Children of Fate
by The Queen Isis
Summary: Ron Weasley feared Lord Voldemort. Draco Malfoy embraced him. Kaitlyn Lowell made the mistake of getting in between the two, and now Ana Lowell's destiny is to make up for her mother's mistakes. This is their story. [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter One: The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger or any of the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They of course belong to J.K. Rowling and a few other big businesses. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I don't own Harry Potter I do own Ana Lowell, her friends Rey, Liza, and Tinkerbell, as well as Amber-Lyn Davies, along with my friend, Anubia.  
  
A/N: The first chapter of this story was originally written by my good friend Anubia. However, due to the fact that her schedule became too busy, she could no longer write and so she passed the plot and it's characters on to me. I helped her develop the characters and after this chapter everything is my ideas I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Anubia's (and now my) beta, Dracanna Malfoy. Without her this chapter would have had a few more mistakes. As always reviews are welcome.  
  
  
  
Lord Voldemort had many supporters throughout the world. In fact, most of the world did support him. The muggles feared him, as they well should, though they had no idea who he was or that magic existed. To him he was the leader of a group of mob like hit men. One day you were perfectly fine, the next you were nothing but a pile of smoking ashes. And then there was the skull with the snake in it, the one that floated over the houses of the victims. Of course muggles found a reasonable explanation for that. "It's a projection from a large machine," everyone said.  
  
  
  
Those who did know of Lord Voldemort, King of the Dark Side of the Wizarding world, became his humble servants. Whenever there was a child was born, the father or mother of the child registered the baby in the nearest wizarding village. On the child's fifth birthday, they began being tutored on the dark arts at home. At age eleven they went to the nearest dark arts school. And, at age seventeen, the age mother's wished their children never turned, they became one of four things, depending on their grades at school.  
  
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The first occupation that could be held in Voldemort's world (which is what he called it) was, of course, a Death Eater. One of the most honored jobs, reserved for only those who were truly pureblood. The second job was to become an official. An official was assigned a second occupation, like a store clerk or a shoe shiner in Lord Voldemort's castle, which had once been Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The third job, which was what became of most girls, was the job of a wife to a Death Eater, or, if a girl wasn't that pretty, a concubine. If a young woman was very pretty she was taken to Lord Voldemort himself. Then she became either one of his many wives or one of his many mistresses.  
  
  
  
Then there was the last job. So few got this job that really it was never considered one of the choices. Every once and a while, there was a rebel. Maybe they had tried to like the dark arts and maybe they hadn't. But when it came time to get a job, they refused the first three, so they got the fourth. The fourth occupation was to be dead, and that's why not many people wanted it.  
  
  
  
Mrs. Davies, who had been just a mere nineteen when the Lord of Darkness had taken over the wizarding world, had been very pretty, but very powerful too. At the time of the fall of the good side, she had been eight months pregnant with the child of Robert Davies, a high-ranking Death Eater. With the permission of the Dark Lord, she and Robert were wed, and not more than a week later she gave birth to Amber-Lyn, Lyn for the name of her own mother and Amber for the name of Voldemort's mother.  
  
  
  
Eight years and three daughters later, Mr. Davies was killed at the hand of a lucky rebel. To add injury to insult (as Mrs. Davies put it) got away, putting the Davies name into shame. Five years later, when Amber-Lyn was eleven, Mrs. Davies was thought to be the most dangerous witch, besides Voldemort's Queen, head wife, mother of his heirâE¦etc., Valicent Mondegal Riddle.  
  
  
  
But this story is not about Mrs. Davies, or Voldemort, or even one of Mrs. Davies three other bratty daughters, Rachael-Janine, Lindsay-Marie, and Amanda-Rebecca. It's about the least likely person of all, a young girl, named Ana. Ana had been a nanny at the mansion since she was eight, when Mr. Davies had died and Mrs. Davies had decided her daughters, when dealt with on her own, were just too much.  
  
  
  
Ana lived in the servant's sheds, which were exactly what that sounded like. On the far backside of the sprawling grounds of Davies Manor there were five small sheds. In those sheds were crammed the thirty-three human servants, both magical and muggle. Luckily for Ana the tiny three roomed cabins were assigned by age. She, along with her two and only companions, Rey and Liza, were the only people occupying their cabin. It had been that way since they were five.  
  
  
  
Ana was an orphan. Her mother, along with the mothers of Rey and Liza, had been abandoned on Mrs. Davies front step. Out of the "kindness" in her heart, Mrs. Davies took the three of them in. Sometimes, after a very long day with the "Triple Terrors", Ana wished Mrs. Davies had shucked them to the muggles.  
  
  
  
It was after one of these particularly long days that Ana discovered the diary. That morning she had woken up late because it was her eleventh birthday and Rey had not woken her up early, as he normally did each morning. Thanks to what he probably intended to be a birthday present, Ana not only had no time to take a bath, but she was late to arrive in Lindsey's nursery and dress her.  
  
  
  
If she didn't dress Lindsey on time-which always took an hour due to the fact that Lindsey had never outgrown the terrible twos-she wouldn't be on time to wake little Mandy up and help her select a robe for the day. If she didn't help Mandy select her robe, then she would be late to get Rachael up for her morning lessons in the dark arts. If Rachael wasn't up by eight and in the room in which she was taught by eight-forty, someone got in trouble and that someone was always Ana.  
  
  
  
Of course, everything went more wrong than Ana possibly could have imagined. When she got to Lindsey's nursery, Lindsey was nowhere to be found. Ana's stomach dropped and she closed her deep blue eyes. She was in so much trouble. Turning on her heel, Ana tried to run down the hall, but instead ran into Amber-Lyn, who was more horrid, spoiled, cruel, and intolerable than any of her sisters.  
  
  
  
"Well," Amber-Lyn said in a voice full of malice, "I see you've lost my youngest sister due to your tardiness. Won't my mum be happy to know that?" She looked as though she would have said more but at that moment an ear shattering scream. Shoving Amber-Lyn out of the way, Ana hiked her long stiff gray skirt and bolted down the hallway, skidding to an unsuccessful stop in front of Mandy's room.  
  
  
  
After picking herself up from the wooden floor, Ana dashed into the overly pink and frilly room, clutching her hand over a stitch in her side. Little Mandy was screaming louder than a banshee and jumping up and down on her bed. "Mandy! Mandy! What's wrong?" Ana asked, silently praying Mrs. Davies was out. Maybe if she got control of the situation she wouldn't get punished.  
  
  
  
Of course, since this morning was going to the dogs, not Mandy but Mrs. Davies, holding Lindsey, answered. "You're the only wrong thing in here that I can see at the moment," Mrs. Davies hissed, her brown eyes flashing. Literally. Ana gulped. Mrs. Davies was known for many things. One of them was getting a magical surgery that could make her eyes flash when she got extremely mad.  
  
  
  
"Madam! It was my birthday, so-"  
  
  
  
"So you assumed I would let you off for not doing your duties properly?" Mrs. Davies asked, advancing on Ana, who was quite a bit smaller.  
  
  
  
"No! But I didn't mean to be late!" Ana cried. She knew it was no use, though. Of all the servants Mrs. Davies liked to punish, she was the one. She was the only one made to call Mrs. Davies Madam, the only one who had to watch the three brattiest children on the planet, the only one who was forced to dye her hair from it's natural color to an ugly muddy brown.  
  
  
  
"I don't care, little miss Ana!" Mrs. Davies snapped. Turning to her firstborn, she hissed, "Amber-Lyn, you'll be doing Ana's chores today, seeing as you didn't inform me sooner of her blunders." Amber-Lyn, wisely holding in her protests, took Lindsey in her arms and led her other sister out of the room.  
  
  
  
"Now," Mrs. Davies said coldly, "you'll come with me!"  
  
  
  
That meant that the rest of her day would be spent sorting through the boxes in the attic. She was correct. Mrs. Davies threw her into the large, spooky room with the orders to stay in here and clean until ten that evening when another servant would come and fetch her. Once the door to the attic had been locked magically, Ana slumped against a pile of boxes.  
  
  
  
"This is another fine mess you've gotten yourself into, Ana," she muttered to herself. A sudden shock of anger shot through her veins and, without quite knowing why, Ana slid off one of her dull black shoes and hurled it at a stack o boxes. The top box, to her utter surprise, fell to the floor, spilling its contents on the floor. Ana just stared. She hadn't thrown the shoe that hard, had she?  
  
  
  
Standing, she stepped cautiously towards the box, as if afraid something would spring from under the pile of junk. Ana bent down on her knees and looked at the label of the box, written in large messy letters. Kaitlyn's things, it read, and Ana wondered who Kaitlyn was. She looked at the things that had tumbled from the box. Most of the things were expensive looking, encrusted with jewels, gems, and anything that shone prettily. Despite their fall, none of the things were harmed. Ana guessed that there was a charm preventing that. After all, who would want such finery to be ruined?  
  
  
  
Ana picked up a small box that had a small silver oval plate on it, surrounded by rubies. Opening the box, Ana found that it was a music box. A beautiful young ballerina was lying down in the velvet insides of the box. As the light that came from the boarded up windows hit her, the ballerina awoke and stood, yawning. She was about to begin dancing and singing, as wizarding music boxes do, when she saw Ana.  
  
  
  
"I cannot dance," she said after a long while. Ana, very surprised that the ballerina had any free will, opened her mouth to ask why, but the ballerina cut her off. "I cannot dance because, when I was purchased, I was told by my buyer that I was only to dance for his lover. And you," she said in a somewhat scornful voice, "are nothing but a scrawny little girl."  
  
  
  
Ana's mood dropped four notches. It was her birthday, she had been locked in an attic, and now a three-inch ballerina was making fun of her. This was not her day. "Can't you just bend the rules a bit? I mean, who says you can't dance for anyone but this one girl?"  
  
  
  
The ballerina sat down and began doing stretches. "Well, I was enchanted to be unable to dance for anyone. It's not as if I wouldn't want to dance for you. I mean, I've been locked up here for-Hey, what year is it?"  
  
  
  
"It's August the fifth, and the year is 2010."  
  
  
  
The ballerina's large blue eyes shot open. "Really? Then I've been in here about eleven years. Lord, what a long time!"  
  
  
  
Ana nodded. "Well, I have to clean up this mess. It was nice-"  
  
  
  
"Don't shut it! Please, take me with you! You have no idea what its like, being forced to live in this dark little box for eleven years!" The ballerina motioned around the area of the box, as if to say no one should be forced to live there.  
  
  
  
Ana, pitying the small thing, gave in. "Alright, but you'll have to be quiet most of the day. I have to do a lot of work."  
  
  
  
The ballerina nodded and jumped into Ana's palm as Ana lowered it into the box. "Thanks," she said. Ana nodded and dropped the ballerina into the pocket on the chest of her apron.  
  
  
  
Ana bent down and began putting things back into the box. Each thing proved to be more extravagant than the next; a brush made of silver, a mirror with sapphires around the glass, a jewelry box that turned out to be filled with diamond bracelets and emerald necklaces. "Who was this woman? Was she the one you danced for?" Ana asked the silent dancer after a while.  
  
  
  
The ballerina nodded. "Her name was Kate Lowell and she was the daughter of an extremely wealthy British merchant and his equally wealthy French wife. She went to Beauxbatons-"  
  
  
  
"Where's that?" Ana asked. She had never heard of Beauxbatons. It didn't sound like the name Voldemort would give to one of his schools.  
  
  
  
"Beauxbatons? That's a wizarding school in France!" the ballerina cried, looking up at Ana as though she were being extremely stupid.  
  
  
  
"I've never heard of it. The only schools in France are Torve's Academy for the Dark Arts and Obscurité's School of Dark Magic," Ana said, giving the ballerina an equally strange look.  
  
  
  
The ballerina's face dropped. "Oh, god, no! He won, didn't he?"  
  
  
  
Ana raised an eyebrow. "Who won?"  
  
  
  
"Voldemort!"  
  
  
  
Ana flinched, just as she always did when she heard that name. "Don't say that!"  
  
  
  
The ballerina scoffed. "Afraid to say his name? Honestly, he's a person, just like me and you."  
  
  
  
Ana shook her head so violently that her white colonial-like cap fell off. "He's not like me! He's a king! And anyways you're not human! You're a music box trinket!" It took her a few moments to realize how truly rude that sounded. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just that-"  
  
  
  
"You should shut up before you say something like that again," the ballerina said, frowning a little. "You know nothing of who I am or of what I could be. For your information I am a faerie!"  
  
  
  
Ana's eyes shot immediately to the ballerina's wingless back. "You don't have wings," she said, stating the obvious.  
  
  
  
The ballerina/faerie snorted. "You must be really thick. Did you know that faeries can't really fly on their own?" Ana shook her head. She knew that she was blushing, but who cared? "Well, they can't. When a faerie is born they're given a band that enables them to fly, and, if you're rich and powerful enough, the band can help you grow so that you can be the size of a human."  
  
  
  
"That's impossible!" Ana cried. Bands that made you fly? And change size? Obviously being locked in a small box for eleven years did things to one's mind.  
  
  
  
The ballerina/faerie glared at Ana. "And you're not? Think about it, little miss smarty-pants! Muggles think that magic is impossible but you're a witch and you believe you exist, don't you? Why not bands that enables you to fly and grow?"  
  
  
  
Ana thought for a long while. It was like her day could get much stranger so why not listen to the ballerina/faerie's tale? "Alright, so why are you like this?"  
  
  
  
The ballerina/faerie sighed dramatically. "Well, as you must know, magical music boxes having moving, singing, and dancing wooden things in them, of all shape and size. But one day a man called Rydal Jenkins discovered that if you removed the band of a faerie while they were small, you could have a real live faerie being inside your box, instead of a wooden one. Who could beat that? Ladies loved the faerie boxes so many young men flocked to buy them for their sweethearts. Of course, no one ever thought that the faeries were unhappy because after you removed the band of a faerie, they became totally under your will. Most people just told them to shut it and sing."  
  
  
  
Ana raised her eyebrows. "Then what happened to you?"  
  
  
  
The ballerina/faerie gave Ana an evil eye before saying, "Kate Lowell's lover was a very rich man. When he purchased the box I was in he got the band, too, to give to her, as a sign of power. Kate didn't have many friends so she told me to say whatever I wished. In turn I promised I would dance for only she and her children."  
  
  
  
"Why didn't she just let you go?" Ana asked.  
  
  
  
The ballerina/faerie sighed angrily. "Because along with being rich, Kate Lowell's family was pureblood. They were the kind of family who arranged marriages and looked down their noses upon muggle borns and half bloods. Kate, sadly, though she could be very kind, was a great deal like them. She never offered to give me my freedom and I never asked her to."  
  
  
  
Ana nodded. "Well, then, I suppose I'll get back to cleaning up this mess. By the way, do you have a name?"  
  
  
  
The ballerina/faerie nodded. "My real name's too long to say, but Kate always called me Tinkerbell. She seemed to think it was hilarious. Said Tinkerbell was some faerie in the story Peter Pan."  
  
  
  
Ana nodded and went back to placing things in the box. After a while she came upon a book. It caught her eye because, unlike every other thing in the boxes contents, this thing was plain and aging. It looked as if it were a diary, with cheap purple covering the front, back, and spine and no lock. When Tinkerbell saw the book, she gasped. "Oh, lord! That was Kate's diary."  
  
  
  
Ana tried to open it but a painful shock ran up her arms, causing her to drop the book. "Why won't it open?" she asked the giggling faerie.  
  
  
  
"Cause," Tinkerbell said through her giggles, "it's a diary. You need a key to open a diary."  
  
"Do you know what the key was?" Ana asked. By now she was very interested in this Kate Lowell. Was she like Amber-Lyn? Ana bet so. Amber-Lyn looked down on everyone, especially "mudbloods".  
  
  
  
Tinkerbell nodded. "I was the key. After Kate received me, she asked if I could place a sealing charm on her diary, because her elder sisters Sophie and Amelia were always trying to break the lock. I said I would, and so I became her key."  
  
  
  
Ana almost groaned. Now she would never see Kate Lowell's diary. Tinkerbell and she, in their forty or so minutes of knowing each other, hadn't been that friendly. She silently placed the book down and began putting the other things back. Finally she was finished. Sighing, Ana stood and stretched, and, without thinking, bent down to grab her other shoe, which had remained off her foot. With a tiny scream, Tinkerbell fell from her apron pocket and straight onto the diary. Without warning, the diary lit up and flew open. Tinkerbell was thrown a few feet into the air, landing in Ana's palm.  
  
  
  
"Thanks a ton! I could have been killed! It's lucky the diary-Oh no, the diary!" She trailed off, her blue eyes focused intently on the yellowing pages. With a defeated sigh, Tinkerbell leapt out of Ana's hand and onto the diary. "I guess you want me to show you how to unlock the damn thing, right?" Ana could only nod. Tinkerbell nodded, took a proud stance, and closed her eyes. Again the book started to glow, and then, without any warning, Ana was sucked into the diary. 


	2. Chapter Two: Dear Diary

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger or any of the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They of course belong to J.K. Rowling and a few other big businesses. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I don't own Harry Potter I do own Ana Lowell, her friends Rey, Liza, and Tinkerbell, as well as Amber-Lyn Davies, along with my friend, Anubia.  
  
A/N: Here's the second chapter of Children of Fate. Again I'd like to dedicate it to my beta, Dracanna Malfoy. She's a great help when it comes to fixing up this story. Please, review my story.  
  
  
  
Ana tried to scream but found she could not speak. The world around her spun madly, like a top, and she felt herself being sucked, inch-by-inch, into the diary. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the spinning stopped. Ana looked around herself at her surroundings. She was in a beautiful bedroom. Though it was small, the room was decorated lavishly.  
  
  
  
There were deep green curtains made of an expensive looking silk fabric, and, looking out the windows, Ana realized she was on a ship. Slowly she walked to the window and looked out. The water was a beautiful shade of aquamarine and seagulls circled around in the sky. In the distance, not too far off, was what looked like a harbor. Turning around Ana decided to investigate the room more thoroughly.  
  
  
  
There was a desk right beside the window, ornately carved with fancy quills and flowery stationary laid out neatly upon it. The carpet was also green and very soft and thick. Ana removed her too small shoes and giggled as she stepped onto the rug in only her stockings. Silently she padded over to a bookshelf, as skillfully and wonderfully carved as the desk. She leaned over to see what books were on the shelves but found that the places where the titles should have been were blurred. Only three books had titles: Meet Me at Dawn by Thomas Norville, The Outlaw and the Auror's Daughter by Sally Smith, and Love You Forever by Kenneth Mills. All three books looked like the trashy romance novels Amber-Lyn sometimes read.  
  
  
  
"She never read any of the books on the ship so the diary doesn't have the titles," a quiet voice said. Ana couldn't help but jump. She had forgotten all about Tinkerbell.  
  
  
  
"What does that mean? Who is she?"  
  
  
  
Tinkerbell rolled her eyes. Somehow she had found her way back into Ana's pocket. "She, of course, would be Kate. This is her memory. The diary she kept was not at all a normal one. It was somewhat of a pensive. You know what those are, right?"  
  
  
  
Ana nodded. "They store your memories. But aren't they bowls?"  
  
  
  
Tinkerbell nodded. "Usually. But if you're very skilled you can take the elements of a pensive-such as the ability to store a memory-and transfer it to another object, usually a diary."  
  
  
  
"Was Kate Lowell good at that kind of stuff?"  
  
  
  
"No," Tinkerbell said, shaking her head. "She wasn't good at many tough magical things like that. Her one strength, though, was charms. Not hexes, curses, or anything to do with the dark arts, like her parents wanted. She was good at charms and could brew most potions." Tinkerbell trailed off and Ana looked around the room, suddenly uncomfortable. Her eyes rested upon the grand Victorian bed facing the window. No one was sitting there. She and the faerie were alone in the room.  
  
  
  
"If this is Kate Lowell's memory then where is Kate Lowell?" Ana asked, sitting down in the chair by the desk.  
  
  
  
As if an answer to her question the door to the room and a girl rushed in, followed by a woman like none Ana had ever seen. Mrs. Davies was rich, of course, and she dressed in fine clothing, but always something that fit the occasion. A regal dress for a ball, designer robes for normal days.  
  
  
  
The woman who had followed the girl into the room knew of no such restrictions. She wore a black velvet dress with silver trims and a silver design of silk on the front. Silver jewelry with emeralds encrusted in it hung around her neck, arms, and dangled from her ears. Her dull (red hair blond hair) was done up in a bun and her face was one of an aristocrat. Ana supposed the woman, who's skin seemed to be stretched tightly over her bones, could have once been pretty. But over the years stress had born down upon her and made her what she was today.  
  
  
  
"Kate, 'oney-I zink you are overreacting," the woman said in a heavy French accent, and Ana's gaze turned to the young girl who must have been Kaitlyn Lowell. Kate was sprawled on the bed, staring at the ceiling, a look of extreme disgust written on her features.  
  
  
  
"Overreacting? I have every right to be overreacting! Mother, you told me we were going on a trip to Salazar Harbor so we could become a family again! You never mentioned the people paying for the trip were the parents of the boy you had betrothed me to! I thought you said Draco Malfoy had married some British girl named Pansy!" By the time Kate had finished her tirade her cheeks were flushed with anger and her eyes were blazing.  
  
  
  
"Well," Kate's mother said, seating herself daintily on the edge of Kate's bed, "'e was going to marry Pansy Parkinson.But 'is father decided that 'e liked us-"  
  
  
  
"His father decided that I was worth more money," Kate said, cutting her mother off. "Why do you lie to me? I know that this is all some game. Since father died you've been having trouble managing all our businesses. Lucius Malfoy can help you with that. The Malfoys are going bankrupt. Ever since the Ministry of Magic for Britain discovered the stash of dark magic objects in Lucius Malfoy's manor he's been having some trouble paying the fine. But hey, the Lowells are rich people. He's sure that the dowry for Kaitlyn Lowell will be more than enough." Kate's eyes narrowed. "And even if it isn't all the money father left to me should cover the bill." Kate's mother gaped at her daughter, but only for a few moments before realizing she was doing a very unsophisticated thing.  
  
  
  
"Well, young lady, you 'ave no choice! We do need the 'elp and you will marry Draco Malfoy. From what I 'ear 'e is a fine young man and very 'andsome, too."  
  
  
  
Kate glared at her mother. "Yeah. That's while he'll have a million mistresses!"  
  
  
  
"Young lady! Watch your mouth!" Kate's mother cried, her pale paper-like skin flushing. Kate made a rude face and stared out the window. Deciding that she had had enough, Kate's mother stood, straitening her dress in the process. "You 'ad better lose zat attitude, Kaitlyn Lowell! We'll reach the port in Salazar 'arbor tomorrow morning. Draco and 'is parents will be zere and if you know what's best, you'll be courteous to zem!" Having said that, Kate's mother stormed out of the room, slamming the door in her anger.  
  
  
  
As soon as her mother had left, Kate reached under her pillow and whipped out the very diary that Ana was in now. Taking her wand, which had been hidden up the sleeve of her robe, she opened the diary and placed the wand to her head. After a few moments Kate took the wand away and, attached to it, was a silvery string. Kate touched the silvery string to the book's pages and, with another flash of gold the entry was made.  
  
  
  
"We'll be leaving, now," Tinkerbell said in a quiet voice. "Pretty soon we'll be off to another entry, probably one where she meets Draco Malfoy."  
  
  
  
No sooner then she had said the words Ana's surroundings, including Kate sitting on the bed, began to swirl and change. This time, however, Ana did not scream. The time in the swirling transition seemed to be shorter the second time around and soon Ana found herself standing at the end of a line of about thirteen women. All were dressed in green robes with silver trims and holding small silver parasols with hissing snake handles. Kate was nowhere to be seen.  
  
  
  
They were in a long hall, still on the ship, waiting by a large open door. The door was open and through it came the salty smell of the ocean and the caw of seagulls. "Those are her sisters and cousins," Tinkerbell said, motioning to the women. "Kate's mother has already found matches for two of Kate's eight sisters. The cousins are along just in case one of the betrothals falls through. Then Francine-that's Kate's mother's name-would still have a chance at making an alliance with someone in Britain." Ana nodded, pretending to understand the politics involved with these marriages.  
  
  
  
A door beside Ana opened and out stepped Mrs. Lowell. "Well, ladies, let's get zis show on zee road!" All the girls burst into nervous laughter and Ana suspected it was more out of fear of Francine Lowell than the fact that they thought it was funny. Mrs. Lowell took her spot at the head of the line and led the girls out of the boat, and, upon following them, Ana found that they had to walk down a plank to get to land, where a fair number of people were gathered. For some reason every one of those people gave her the chills.  
  
  
  
"We won't be able to hear what Mrs. Lowell's saying to well.Kate was listening from her room. She'll be coming out any minute," Tinkerbell said in a quiet voice so as they could hear Mrs. Lowell's speech. Ana watched with growing fascination as three people, probably mother, father, and son, approached her. The father and son were practically identical with the same tall, lithe, slender builds, faces that came together in such a way that they seemed to point, and blond hair so light it had a silvery hue to it. The mother was also tall and slender, though her hair was a shade or two blonder than her son and husband's.  
  
  
  
"Are they the Malfoys?" Ana asked, secretly awed by these people.  
  
  
  
"Yes. I'm sure, if Voldemort has risen to full power, that you know who Draco Malfoy is? They were, in those times, a very infamous but powerful family," Tinkerbell murmured.  
  
  
  
Ana thought for a moment before replying, "Now he calls himself D. Malfoy. Mrs. Davies calls him Dragon when she speaks of him, which isn't often. She really hates him. I think because they rival for attention from You-Know- Who. He never comes over, either. The one or two times he did show up Mrs. Davies hid me in a closet because she thought I looked like a ragamuffin."  
  
  
  
Tinkerbell had stopped paying attention to Francine Lowell and the Malfoys and had turned her head skywards so she could look into Ana's eyes. "You're mistress is Mrs. Pegatha Davies?" she asked quietly. Ana nodded. "Tell me, Ana, where are your mother and father?"  
  
  
  
Ana looked away from the faerie. "When I was a baby my mother left me on the steps of Mrs. Davies manor."  
  
  
  
Tinkerbell's small face was beginning to turn red. "Have you always been a maid?" she asked and something in her voice betrayed that it was on the verge of cracking.  
  
  
  
"When I was five I started doing small things, like picking vegetables. When I was six and a half I began cleaning the manor and when I was eight Mrs. Davies assigned me to be her daughter's nanny. Before I was five, though, I did a little work."  
  
  
  
Tinkerbell shut her blue eyes and took a deep breath. "Tell me, Ana, do you have any friends?"  
  
  
  
Ana nodded. "Jeffrey and Liza, but everyone calls Jeffrey Rey. They work, too. Rey works with the animals and Liza helps in the kitchen and cleans the house with another maid named Tilly Smith."  
  
  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
The small explosion from Tinkerbell startled Ana and she jumped back, into the door Mrs. Lowell had come from, just as it opened. Luckily, this only being a memory, the door passed right through Ana.  
  
  
  
"What's the matter?" Ana asked, watching as Kate Lowell, dressed in an uncomfortable and stiff looking dress, struggled to walk down the plank.  
  
  
  
"This is the end of this memory, Ana, and now we'll be going back. There are a few things I need to tell you and your two friends."  
  
  
  
Ana was about to ask Tinkerbell why when the world began to swirl around her. Silently, to herself, Ana wondered if this day would ever start making sense. 


	3. Chapter Three: Secrets Revealed

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
  
  
When Ana and Tinkerbell were once again in the attic, Tinkerbell remained silent in Ana's pocket for the rest of the day, watching Ana work. Even when the young girl tried to engage in conversation the small faerie/ballerina ignored her. Finally, after what seemed like hours of working, there was a knock on the door. For the first time in some in some twelve hours Tinkerbell talked.  
  
"Grab the diary and hide it in your dress. We'll need it later," she hissed before disappearing into the breast pocket on Ana's apron. Ana grabbed the diary and ran to the door, only too eager to get away from the boxes of junk that filled Mrs. Davies's attic.  
  
Throwing open the door, Ana found Liza there, a guilty look on her face. "When I heard you had been thrown in here I volunteered to come and get you. Rey and me feel awful for waking you up late. I'm so sorry your birthday turned out like this," Liza mumbled, flushing pink and looking more sorry than anything or anyone ever had.  
  
"It's all right, Liz. I know you and Rey didn't mean to do any harm," Ana said. She had already decided to keep quiet about Tinkerbell. It just didn't seem like the best moment to tell Liza that she had made friends with a three-inch, wingless, sarcastic faerie dressed as a ballerina and nicknamed after a Peter Pan character. She had also chosen to keep quiet about going into a seven by five inch diary to explore the memories of a girl named Kaitlyn Lowell. So, after assuring Liza forty-three times that she wasn't in the least bit mad, Ana followed her friend through the cold and dreary manor and out into the warm night air.  
  
"I never did get to wish you a happy birthday, An," Liza said after a while.  
  
"Well, I know you meant it spiritually," Ana said, grinning at Liza when she turned around. They burst out laughing for no reason apparent to either girl other the fact that they were best friends and sometimes best friends just laughed.  
  
"Well," Liza said after they had stopped laughing, "to make everything up to you Rey and me filched some eggs and flour and sugar and stuff to make you a cake! We even got some chocolate to make it chocolate cake!"  
  
Ana's dark blue eyes were wide with both amazement and fear. "Liz, you didn't have to do that! In fact you shouldn't have! I mean, what if Amber- Lyn or Mrs. Davies finds out? You could get in a lot of trouble!"  
  
Liza shrugged and grinned. "It would be worth it, at least. Now stop worrying and start walking! Rey was just putting the cake in the oven when I left so we should make it back just in time to see it come out!" With an excited giggle the two girls set off down the lawn at a swift pace, heading for the cluster of cabins in the distance.  
  
***  
  
Though the cabins were small and sometimes crowded, Liza, Rey, and Ana never complained. Theirs was by far the best servant's shed there was, with running water, an oven, and three beds. Whenever one of the elder age groups tried to weasel the three friends out of the nice cabin, claiming it was theirs by age right, Mrs. Davies would appear to tell them to kindly leave them alone. It was the only nice thing she ever did so it hardly made up for the fact that she was a Class A monster the rest of the time.  
  
When Ana and Rey reached the door to their cabin the lovely smell of fresh baked cake was wafting from the windows, which were cracked open just enough to let some air breeze through. "I hope none of the Davies meander by this evening," Liza muttered as she rapped lightly on the door. "Then they'd know for sure something was up."  
  
Ana just nodded, grinning when the door was thrown open and she found a short boy with knobby knees and, like her, an annoyingly scrawny build. His untidy black hair (which, no matter how much Mrs. Davies tried to comb it down, claiming it was "scruffy", stood up at all ends) was turned a light gray from the flour in it and his face was smudged with chocolate. "Hello, ladies!" Rey cried, grinning his heart-warming grin that won over so many. "You're just in time for dinner!"  
  
Besides nicking ingredients for a cake, Rey and Liza had also gotten a loaf of bread, three slices of steak left over from last night's dinner and three peaches. They had even gotten Ana's personal favorite, Clam Chowder, which they must have taken the ingredients for, seeing as all the Davies (save Amber-Lyn) were allergic to clams. "Ooh! It looks great!" Ana said, hugging both of her grinning friends.  
  
"Only the best for our girl," Liza said, pulling out one of the three chairs seated around their tiny table.  
  
Rey nodded. "Yeah! Come on, An, let's dig in!"  
  
Ana pulled out a chair and for a while the three friends ate in silence, savoring the wonderful tastes of the meal, which, for them, was a gourmet dinner. Usually all the maids and servants got was a cold slice of cornbread, a cold slice of chicken, and some kind of over-watered soup. It wasn't until Rey got up to slice the cake that Ana remembered Tinkerbell.  
  
"I made a friend today," Ana said, and immediately she winced. She already sounded a little crazy.  
  
Rey stopped stuffing his third piece of cake down his gullet and Liza set her fork down slowly. They both stared at Ana as if had grown a third head. "You made a friend? When?"  
  
Ana looked down at her hands. "In the attic."  
  
Rey and Liza exchanged worried looks. They obviously thought their friend was feeling a bit off. "And just where was this friend?"  
  
"In a music box," Ana replied, reaching in her shirt and dropping Tinkerbell on the table. For a moment, no one spoke. Liza's mouth hung open, Rey was rubbing his eyes, Ana was staring at her feet, and Tinkerbell was grinning broadly at all three of them. Ana couldn't help but notice how kind and faerie-like she looked when she smiled.  
  
"My god," she whispered, staring at Rey, "you look just like your father.except for the glasses. Your father had glasses. I can see a bit of your mother in you, too. You smile like her."  
  
Rey stopped rubbing his eyes and bent his face down so that it was even with Tinkerbell's. "You knew my parents?" he asked, and Ana detected a slight quiver in his voice. When Tinkerbell nodded, Rey frowned and said, "That's impossible. My mother abandoned me on Mrs. Davies front step. My father's probably long gone by now. How can you be so sure about my parentage?"  
  
Tinkerbell sighed and sat on the table. "Well," she said, "it's very complicated. And it's a long story. A sad one, too. One that has to do with your mothers and fathers." Tinkerbell turned to Ana. "It has to do with the diary."  
  
Ana's stomach jumped. It was a very unpleasant feeling. "What diary?" Liza asked, speaking for the first time since Tinkerbell had been dropped on the table.  
  
"When I was cleaning today, I found a box of things belonging to a young girl named Kaitlyn Lowell. In the box was a diary of hers. To make a long story short Tinkerbell here knew Kaitlyn Lowell. She was able to help me travel into the past to view Kaitlyn's memories. Are you with me so far?"  
  
"More or less," Liza answered, though she looked more than a little doubtful.  
  
"Alright, I'll continue. Kate Lowell was the daughter of two wealthy purebloods. I don't know that much about her, really. I do know that she was engaged to a man named Draco. The very same man that Mrs. Davies calls Dragon. You know, D. Malfoy?" Ana looked at her friends expectantly.  
  
"But D. Malfoy isn't married. What happened to Ms. Lowell, then?" Liza asked. This time she sounded intrigued, as she often did one someone told her about an important historical fact. Liza was very much the smart, shy, bookworm type.  
  
"He never married?" Tinkerbell asked, her eyebrows arched. "Not once? Has he any children? What about his father and mother? Are they still alive? And how much do you know of Draco Malfoy? And what of a man named Ron Weasley? Do you know anything about the Weasley family?" The questions seemed endless, so, when the small faerie did stop to catch her breath, it took the three friends a few moments to answer.  
  
"Well," Liza said in a very matter of fact tone, "Dragon Malfoy has had many girlfriends but not one marriage. His mother, Narcissa, died three years after the rise of Voldemort. Her husband, Lucius, wasted no time in getting remarried to one Lucita Moss. She bore him three children within the next five years. Tamara, Pandora, and Serpens. Despite the addition of three siblings, though, Dragon Malfoy remains the Malfoy heir." The young girl also had to stop for a breath of air.  
  
"We don't know tons about Dragon Malfoy other than the gossip that circulates through the manor. He's a very powerful wizard, though. So powerful that he was named godfather to the Dark Lord's heir. As for the name Weasley.I've heard it once or twice. He was friends with Harry Potter." Rey added.  
  
At the mention of an heir, Tinkerbell's eyes grew wide. "And heir? Voldemort has an heir?"  
  
Wincing at the name of the much feared dark wizard, Ana replied, "Yes. Actually three of the Dark Lord's children are vying for the position of his heir. The first two were given to him by the Queen of Darkness, Valicent. One is a boy and the other is a girl, Titus and Mercutia. The third child is the daughter of one of Voldemort's lowlier wives. Her name is Senna. It's all very complicated, really."   
  
Tinkerbell nodded understandingly before returning to the subject of the diary. "As I said, Ana, the story, and your mothers as well, are very much connected with the diary."  
  
Ana raised an eyebrow. "If you're so bloody wise then who is my mother?" she asked. Never in a million years did she expect the answer that was given to her.  
  
"Your mother," Tinkerbell said in a subdued tone, "was Kaitlyn Lowell."  
  
For a moment no one spoke. Ana stared in shock at Tinkerbell. Kate Lowell was her mother? The young woman-more of a girl than anything, really-was her mum? What did that make Draco Malfoy, her father? And then, with a flare of hope, an idea struck Ana. One that she had wished many times over.  
  
Maybe her mother hadn't abandoned her.  
  
"Ana, you alright?" Ana was brought back into the world when Rey shook her rather hard.  
  
"I'm fine," Ana was able to mumble. "Tinkerbell, how did you know that I was the daughter of Kate Lowell?" Ana asked.  
  
"Like I said, it's a long story. And, before we begin, I do believe that I should tell your friends about their parents," Tinkerbell answered, crossing her legs and turning to smile at Liza. "You look so much like your mother," she whispered, grinning. Liza blushed. Ana knew how much that must have meant to Liza. "Her name was Cho. Cho Chang. She was a pretty, kind, quiet young thing, Cho was. It took everyone by surprise when Lee Jordan, a loud, jaunty, outspoken young man came and swept her off her feet."  
  
Liza was only able to nod.  
  
Then the small sprite looked Rey in the eyes. "You're father was a great man, Rey. A very great man. And your mother was equally as noble," she murmured.  
  
Rey nodded slowly but Ana could see the tears in his eyes. "Thanks," he muttered.  
  
"Your father was Harry Potter and your mother was Hermione Granger."  
  
Liza choked on the piece of bread she had just swallowed and Rey fell back in his seat. He scrambled around on the floor, trying in vain to stand up. Ana was too shocked to even move. Rey?  
  
Her best friend Rey?  
  
The son of the great Harry Potter?  
  
"You're joking!" Rey finally managed to cry.  
  
"No, I'm afraid I'm not. And now that the three of you know your parents then I guess-"  
  
"Who's my father?" Ana asked, cutting Tinkerbell off. "Is it Draco Malfoy?"  
  
Tinkerbell's face fell. "Well, you see, that's part of the story, Ana. It's something you won't fully understand until you three know about the events leading up to the fall of the good side of the wizarding world. Now, if you will all remain quite, I'll fill you in on a few details of the story."  
  
When nobody spoke, Tinkerbell continued. "A little under twelve years ago Harry Potter and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, graduated from Hogwarts. They were in the same year as Draco Malfoy, who also graduated from Hogwarts. Cho Chang had graduated the year before and Lee Jordan three years before. Kate Lowell, however, still had a year of school left to go. She attended Beauxbatons, which was a school in France. Ana informed me that Beauxbatons is no longer running."  
  
"That's right," Rey muttered.  
  
"Anyway, Kate was the daughter of Lynette Francine Lowell-called Francine- and Julius Ivan Lowell. She also had eight sisters and no brothers. It was a tradition in pureblood families that if no sons were born to the parents then the father would choose his favorite daughter to be the heir. Kate told me her father never had favorites. He chose based on whom he thought would run the family best. That, surprisingly, was Kate."  
  
"Why would that be so surprising?" Liza asked.  
  
"Because," Tinkerbell said, shooting the three kids meaningful glances, "Kate wasn't very good at many hexes or curses or jinxes. She was pretty good at charms and stuff like that, but otherwise she was pretty hopeless. Francine threw a fit when she heard who the heir was. She highly favored her daughters Amelia and Sophia, the two eldest girls, as well as the two most annoying. And so, when Julius died in an explosion at one of his factories, Kate became very rich very fast."  
  
"And her mother married her off to Draco Malfoy because she needed help to keep her husband's businesses afloat," Ana concluded.  
  
"She tried to," Tinkerbell said, sighing sadly. "But then Kate met him and everything changed. Her opinions on life, her views of social status.But that doesn't come until later. I suppose I should begin where Ana and I left off. When Kate met Draco Malfoy! " 


	4. Chapter Four: A Journey to the Past

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
A/N: It becomes in this chapter somewhat obvious that Ana's father is either going to be Ron Weasley or Draco Malfoy. Feel free to vote on which on you'd prefer it to be via review. Thanks to my beta as well!  
  
  
  
Draco Malfoy yawned pointedly as Mrs. Lowell continued her speech. His mother, Narcissa Malfoy, shot him a withering glance. His father, Lucius Malfoy, didn't ever look away from Mrs. Lowell, his face rapt with interest.  
  
It was all an act, though.  
  
Everything concerning the Lowells was an act.  
  
Draco was supposed to act kind, gentlemanly, and even caring, towards the young Miss Kaitlyn Lowell. After all, she was his future bride. Or at least the fastest way to get his family out of debt. It was no secret that Kaitlyn Lowell was rich. Many of Draco's "friend's" families' had been eager to arrange a marriage between their own sons with the young maid who had been tutored in France.  
  
"And so," Francine Lowell said with a passionate flare, "I present to you my daughter, Kaitlyn Lowell!"  
  
Narcissa and Lucius clapped while Draco stared at the plank that led up to the door of the boat. In a few moments he was going to see the woman he was going to be stuck with for the rest of his life. Draco really hated being a pawn in his parent's political games.  
  
And then he saw her. Draco's face fell. When he had seen Kate's four eldest sisters-Amelia, Sophia, Marlene, and Josephine-he had held some glimmer of hope that Kate Lowell might look the least bit like them, with buttery blond hair, bright blue eyes, rosy pink cheeks, and waists so thin that more than one charm had to be involved. That would have made the thought of an arranged marriage more bearable.  
  
But, of course, Kate was entirely different from any of her sisters. Her hair was the color of chestnuts and her eyes were a pretty dark blue. Her nose was much like the delicate noses of her sisters, save the fact that hers was a bit longer. Her lips were thinner than the full lips her sisters had. Her body was taller and more willowy than the medium heights and rotund builds of her sisters. All in all, Draco decided, she seemed to be pronounced and out of proportion when she was compared to her elder siblings; they were far too perfect to compare to rather-plain Kate.  
  
Draco was made well aware that he was staring in an unflattering manner at his future bride when his father nudged him and hissed, "Draco, what in the name of all that is magic are you doing? Say hello to Kaitlyn, and stop staring, or you'll bloody well regret it!"  
  
If Kate or Mrs. Lowell or any of the Lowell girls noticed Mr. Malfoy's sharp reprimand they pretended not to. Draco, after turning a light pink, turned to Kate. "Good day, Kaitlyn. You're looking quite lovely," he said in a suave voice, taking her hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, by the way. My name's Draco-"  
  
"Well I obviously know your name. I mean, what kind of girl would I be not to know the name of my future husband?" Kate cut Draco off so sharply that he dropped her white-gloved hand in surprise. Never before had a woman been able to resist his charm.  
  
'Oh, well,' Draco thought, shrugging mentally, 'she's probably still hurt about the whole staring bit. This time, though.This time I'll win her over.'  
  
"Well, of course," he said, laughing lightly and brushing away a strand of his silvery blond hair. He was told that the ladies loved when he did that. "I'm so sorry. Can I make it up to you?" he asked. "Let's share a carriage back to my family's summer estate so we can get to know each other." The last words came out in a purr. Draco gently kissed Kate's hand and looked up into her eyes, expecting to see adoration and enchantment in them.  
  
Instead he saw annoyance, anger, and-my!-was that disgust? How could Draco Malfoy, the Don Juan of the wizarding world, be disgusting to anyone?  
  
"No thank you," Kate spat out after tugging her hand (rather roughly) away from Draco. "My sisters, Peggy, Miranda, Penny, and I will share a carriage together." And, with that, Kate strode away from the astounded Draco, the sisters named Peggy, Josephine, and Miranda following close behind.  
  
Draco didn't hear Mrs. Lowell's many apologies, he didn't see Kate's sister's whispering cruelly about their sister, and he most definitely didn't hear his cousins, who had come for the occasion, laughing heartily at his expense. What he did see, though, was Kate climbing into a carriage, but not before turning around and giving him one more scornful look. And he also most definitely heard his fiancée whisper to Peggy, "What a stuck up git!"  
  
Peggy, of course, laughed, highly amused at her younger sister's comment. Kaitlyn's carriage drove away not long after that. Draco was almost sure that they would be talking about his stupidity on the way to the manor.  
  
***  
  
Tinkerbell looked up at Ana, Liza, and Rey, a small smile on her face. "And that's how they met."  
  
Ana's eyebrows were furrowed together. "But how do Harry Potter and Lee Jordan and Cho Chang and Hermione Granger fit into all this? I thought Harry Potter and his crowd hated people like the Malfoys," she said after a bit.  
  
Tinkerbell smiled. "Well, that's the next part of the tale. Now mind you, the Malfoys were prominent-if not twisted-people. Their family was one of the oldest in the wizarding world, and also some of the most well known purebloods, something they prided themselves on. So of course, when young Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune, got engaged, they had to formally introduce Kate to the wizarding society of Great Britian."  
  
"How were they going to do that?" Liza asked, sitting in her chair.  
  
"How else?" Tinkerbell asked, and Ana saw the faintest gleam of merriment in the faerie's eyes. "In the traditional way. They held a series of three masquerades, which happened over a period of three nights. At the end of each night Kate would reveal herself to the public before slipping away. And everyone who was anyone was to be invited. If you weren't invited then you had either done something horribly wrong or upset the Malfoys. You could only hope that you were invited to the wedding."  
  
"Was it grand?" Liza asked, and her eyes were big and excited. Liza always hung around at the top of the grand staircase that led down to the ballroom. Even the darkest and dreariest dance couldn't discourage the young girl. Ever since she had read Cinderella, she had been hooked on fairytale endings.  
  
"Was it grand?" Tinkerbell asked, and she gave a snort. "Oh, it was grand alright. Kate told me all about it. The ball itself had been planned for months prior to Kate's arrival. Mrs. Lowell and Mrs. Malfoy had gone all out on everything! The invitations had been written in the most expensive ink available, the food to be served was of the finest quality, and Kate's costumes were to be the most lavish of them all."  
  
Tinkerbell grinned sadly. "Oh, it was grand alright. And poor Kate; she had to prance around that ballroom on the arm of her future husband, all trussed up and treated like a trinket." She looked down at the diary. "Let me tell you what happened that night."  
  
***  
  
"And I heard she was tutored by Madame Maxime personally!"  
  
"Did you hear the latest about Kaitlyn Lowell? Her wedding dress is to be made by the famous designer from Surrey.Ladonna Carolle. Narcissa was just telling me about it!"  
  
"Oh, yes, I saw her earlier today when I arrived. She's a little scrawny but she's such a young thing that I'm sure she'll grow into her body!"  
  
Kate stood at the top of the grand staircase leading down into the ballroom. There all the guests-mostly high class purebloods and their children-mingled together, though they all seemed to be talking about one thing: the young bride of Draco Malfoy. Every once and a while a little tidbit of a conversation would drift up the marble stairs and reach the ears of Kate. Each time this happened she swallowed nervously and straightened her mask. Not all the things said down in the ballroom were kind.  
  
"That bloody whore! Don't worry, Pansy! We all know it's you Draco wanted to marry! Now, now, don't make that face! We'll show that stupid slut!"  
  
"Yeah, Pans! That Lowell girl is so going to pay for stealing away your boyfriend! Don't worry! Don't worry!"  
  
Kate peaked around the corner and looked down the staircase to see three girls gathered around one girl, who was sitting on the very bottom step. The three girls, obviously the sitting girl's cronies, were all dressed in similar billowing green dresses, complete with bow-sashes. Their hair was done up in the same fashionable swirling bun and they all had the same moss green masks upon their sympathizing faces.  
  
The girl sitting on the step, however, was by far the most elegant of the four. Her dress was of the most recent fashion in the deepest ruby red. Its skirt swirled out around her waist and a little ruby tiara had been stuck in her hair to hold up her blond curls. Even underneath the satin ruby mask Kate could see that her face was tight and upset, almost like a pug's. That girl could only be one person, Kate thought.  
  
Pansy Parkinson.  
  
Her number one enemy from the sounds of it, as well.  
  
Kate had heard a great deal about Pansy, though she had never actually laid eyes on the girl. From what her spies (namely her sisters Miranda and Peggy) had found out, Pansy had been just about to marry Draco when her mother, Lynette Francine Lowell, had suggested that Draco marry Kate instead. Lucius Malfoy had been only to eager to agree to that marriage, which would also result in a strong financial backing. Or at least more than the Parkinsons could offer.  
  
"Everything would have been fine," Miranda had said eagerly earlier that day, after spending an hour bribing one of the maids for information, "if Draco and Pansy had not dated for three years prior to the arrangement."  
  
Kate had scratched Lila, a gift from Mr. Malfoy in the form of a German Shepherd puppy, behind the ears before asking, "You mean he loves her?"  
  
Peggy, who had wooed the stable boy into giving her some answers, shook her head violently. "No, no, not at all! She loves him but what he feels for her is purely lust, if anything at all. She's already his mistress and she will no doubt remain so after your honeymoon."  
  
That piece of information had shocked Kate, but not for long. After the initial shock had worn off her resentment for Draco Malfoy grew into hate.  
  
She had vowed a million times over never to give into his attempts-and there had been many so far-to enchant her. "I'll never love him," she had muttered only hours earlier.  
  
To Kate's relief Pansy and her friends, one of which she had addressed as Blaise, stood and glided off towards a tall figure clothed in a deep green suit. Even with the mask covering his upper-face, you could tell it was Draco. He had just entered to ballroom through one of the garden entrances. Two gargantuan boys, Crabbe and Goyle, who would be two of the groomsmen (much to Kate's disgust) accompanied him. Within ten feet of Draco Pansy slowed down and began to sidle up to him in a seductive manner. Draco, after watching the young blonde for a few moments, threw back his head and laughed, holding open his arms. Pansy, pleased as anything, laughed with him and ran into his arms. Her friends, as well as Crabbe and Goyle, all smiled in a way that suggested they thought the scene before them fit together much better then the one that would play out in a few moments, with Kate in Pansy's place.  
  
After a few moments of hugging Pansy and Draco broke apart. Draco leaned over and whispered something into Pansy's ear; something that made Pansy giggle happily and wink to her friends. Everyone in that hall-they were all watching-knew what that something had been. Even with his father sending him what-the-bloody-hell-are-you-doing? looks and his mother apologizing loudly to Mrs. Lowell, Draco walked back out into the gardens, Pansy on his arm.  
  
Even with her vows of forever hating Draco Malfoy, seeing him walking off to go shag some other woman-in front of so many people-hurt like hell. Everyone down there knew who Pansy Parkinson was. She was the woman Draco would rather spend his time with; the woman he'd named his mistress, the woman who wasn't his fiancée.  
  
Before the embarrassed young woman had time to run back to her apartments the music stopped and Mr. Malfoy, dressed in dark gray with a billowing cape and fancy mask, stepped up onto the stairs. "Ladies and gentlemen, though my son could not be here," Mr. Malfoy paused a moment, "I would like to introduce to you my future daughter-in-law, Kaitlyn Marcia Lowell."  
  
Everything went silent and, after taking a deep breath and pushing all thoughts of Draco Malfoy and his whore from her mind, Kate stepped out from around the corner. With her head held high she walked down the staircase, though everyone could plainly see her shame, and her facade of her being a grand lady evaporated. Kate walked to the chairs lined up on the north wall of the ballroom and sat down next to all the girls likely to become old maids due to the fact that their fathers could find them no husbands.  
  
As Kate sat beside a bone thin young girl named Pricilla she buried her face in her hands. She wished that she hadn't seen the look of pure fury her mother had shot her. It was clear whom Mrs. Lowell blamed the evenings events on.  
  
'Hell,' Kate thought sadly, 'even I blame myself.A failure in everyone's eyes!'  
  
***  
  
Soon after the appearance of the young Kaitlyn Lowell, Mr. Malfoy had ordered the orchestra to strike up a slightly more festive piece than the classics they had been playing. Immediately, out of pity more than attraction, Kate was asked to dance by a tall, rather gangly figure dressed in a red suit with gold trimmings. His large scarlet cape billowed out behind him as he whisked her onto the dance floor.  
  
For one time in her life Kate was thankful that her father, who, despite what he said, had favored she and her sisters Miranda and Josephine, had forced her to endure countless dance instructors. She and that scarlet clad man were given a wide path to the dance floor. Once they had reached the middle of the room the orchestra began to play a lively tune.  
  
Kate and the man, whose face was covered completely by a golden mask, twirled artfully to the next three dances. Kate had begun to enjoy herself so much that she hadn't noticed that she and the man were the only ones dancing. When the fourth dance was finished the man bent down, kissed Kate's hand, and swept out of the ballroom through a garden door. The second he had left the room exploded into whispers.  
  
"Who was he?"  
  
"Did you see how she smiled at him?"  
  
"Well, seems young Mr. Malfoy has gotten his comeuppance! That'll teach him to screw that whore of his in Kate's presence!"  
  
Again Kate ignored the comments. With a serene smile, and ignoring her mother's looks, she glided-yes, glided!-out the same door the red stranger had left.  
  
***  
  
A few hours later, when the ball was in full swing, Kate found herself strolling along the large stone deck-porch that wrapped around the entire back half of the Malfoy's summer home. In three spots there were grand steps leading down to the Malfoy's grounds and gardens. She had walked back and forth, down the long stone veranda, eight times now and she was still as filled with butterflies as when she began.  
  
The scarlet clad man-who had he been? A kind noblemen of high class and with a long ancestry of purebloods?  
  
Unlikely, Ana thought sadly. No pureblood would have dared to dance with the bride of Draco Malfoy, lest they invoke the Malfoy's rage. Maybe he was just some passerby who had charmed his way into the ball. Also unlikely.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by a polite cough. Turning, Kate expected to find a servant there to tell her that her mother requested her presence. Instead she found-"You!"  
  
There, standing in the shadows of the pillars that supported the second story of L'enfer, was the scarlet clad man. His golden mask shone out from the darkness in which he stood.  
  
"I thought it was you, Miss Lowell," the man said quietly. Kate shivered, despite herself. His voice was so much richer and pleasant than Draco's constant drawl.  
  
"Please, call me Kate," she said, smiling shyly. "It seems only appropriate that you call me by my first name, after all the dances we did."  
  
"As you wish, Kate," the man said again, and Kate was thoroughly convinced that he was speaking so smoothly just to send chills-all of them involuntary-down her spine.  
  
"May I ask who you are?" Kate asked, taking a step towards the man.  
  
"Wouldn't that incriminate me? You and I both know I'm not a welcome guest here," the man answered, chuckling softly.  
  
"I wouldn't tell anyone," Kate answered, hoping dearly that her voice was as enchanting to him as his was to her.  
  
"Is that a promise?" the man asked.  
  
"A steadfast one," Kate answered.  
  
"Very well, Kate, come here."  
  
Kate took a few steps closer to the man, who had removed his golden mask. She removed her mask as well. It seemed like the right thing to do.  
  
"My name," the man said, his lips now by her ear, "is Ronald Weasley. But everyone calls me Ron." Then, without warning, those lips were upon hers.  
  
The kiss-Kate's first-was so sudden that she hardly knew what to do. After struggling for a few minutes with Ron's hands clamped firmly upon her shoulders she stopped and melted together with him. A few minutes later they broke apart.  
  
"What in the blooding hell was that?" Kate asked. Despite the chills, thrills, and excitement of the kiss, the surprise and nerves of it had ignited her rage.  
  
"Well, I thought you'd know that every steadfast promise was sealed with a kiss," Ron replied, and in the faint light that came from the large windows of the ballroom Kate could see the traces of a smile on Ron's lips.  
  
"That's rubbish!" Kate cried, and she knew her face was flushing pink, as it so often did when she was mad.  
  
"Not where I come from," Ron said, and the slight smile grew to a broad grin. "I bid thee farewell, Miss Kate." And just like the suddenness of the kiss, Ron was gone, sweeping across the Malfoy's lawn. Part of Kate wanted to follow him. She half feared that Ron would not come to the next ball.  
  
She also feared that he would.  
  
***  
  
"And that's how the love triangle began," Tinkerbell said, finishing the tale with a flourish.  
  
"So my mother was being forced to marry Draco Malfoy but she fell in love with Ron Weasley? Is he my dad?" Ana asked.  
  
Tinkerbell gave Ana a benign smile that revealed nothing. "That's what you'll find out later. This story becomes so complicated that it must be told as it happened, and as it was told to me. Mind you, I only arrived on the scene for the second half of the tale, which has barely even begun."  
  
Ana nodded, more than a little disappointed. She had a feeling Tinkerbell wasn't telling her something important about her parents. She would have pressed further in the matter but by then the clock on the south wall read that it was two-thirty A.M. Wearily the three friends stumbled off to beds.  
  
Despite the loads of information of her past that Ana had just learned she was asleep just seconds after the lights were turned off.  
  
***  
  
In the morning Tinkerbell was gone. Ana wasn't really surprised. Though there was no note she knew Tinkerbell would be back, even if Liza and Rey didn't believe her.  
  
All they had to do was wait. 


	5. Chapter Five: Taking the Chance

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
A/N: Much thanks to my beta, Dracanna Malfoy. And, as in the previous chapter's notes, feel free to voice who you want Ana's father to be: Draco or Ron. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I apologize in the delay in its posting.  
  
  
  
The weeks following Tinkerbell's absence seemed to drag on. Ana, Rey, and Liza rarely talked of the sprite, but they thought about her and her stories constantly. More than once Ana had been punished for slacking off when she should have been watching Mandy. Every opportunity she had Ana sketched-one of her few great talents-pictures of her mother.  
  
Rey was suffering the most of the three, though. Ana could tell that each time he saw a dark witch or wizard (which was often) his face tightened and he got a look in his eyes halfway between hate and despair. Ana wondered often how it must feel to see the people who killed your father each day, and to have to respect them at that. Finally, however, a month and eighteen days after Tinkerbell had left, she returned.  
  
Ana, Liza, and Rey had been walking down the lawn of Davies Manor and towards their shed when they saw that a light was turned on. Fearing that they had finally been moved to one of the smaller and stuffier cabins the three friends had pelted down the lawn and came to a halt on the deck of their cabin. Pushing for the best place, Ana, Liza, and Rey pressed they faces to the window.  
  
To their great surprise, sitting on the table, arms crossed, was Tinkerbell. When she saw their surprised faces she gave a small wave, which they each returned rather robotically. Rey then opened the door and the three of them walked inside.  
  
"I'm back," Tinkerbell said as they all sat around the table, "and this time I'll be staying longer."  
  
This earned a smile from all three of the excited friends. "Where were you, though?" Liza asked after a few pleasantries had been exchanged.  
  
Tinkerbell looked down at her tiny hands and said nonchalantly, "Oh, just catching up on a few things. Being locked in a small box for eleven years causes you to miss much of what's going on. I just met up with a friend or two and discussed the current times." Tinkerbell paused and looked at Liza. "No cause for worry," she said, but everyone present knew that she had politely told them to mind their Ps and Qs.  
  
"Are you up for telling us a bit more of the story?" Rey asked next, a hopeful smile on his face.  
  
"That's what I'm here for, right?" Tinkerbell asked, smiling slightly. "Now let's see.Where did I leave off? Oh yes! Right after Kate had met Ron Weasley, the mysterious man in red. Now, as you might remember, there were two more masquerades to be held over the course of the next two nights. Now, after all that had happened the night before, Kate was generally excited about the ball, hoping that the man would ask her to dance again.  
  
***  
  
Ron wasn't usually so bold with women. In fact he rather feared them. Having had only one girlfriend-Marjory Tolkins, a girl his age who had been in Hufflepuff-that had dumped him straight out of Hogwarts Ron knew not what to do around a pretty young woman. And while Kate wasn't as stunning, gorgeous, or alluring as her sisters were she possessed a bit of inner charm that had attracted him to her within seconds.  
  
And when the chance to kiss her had arisen-when his lips were right next to her ear-he had taken it. The words that flew out of his mouth before and after the kiss had amazed Ron himself. Never had he sounded so smooth and so sure of himself. He had left at the exact right moment, too, when Kate was fully intrigued by him.  
  
No doubt, Ron thought as he scanned the Malfoy's ballroom, she had thought of him quite a bit over the last twenty-four hours. He had certainly thought of her.  
  
"Looking for someone, Ron?"  
  
Ron started slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Harry Potter, his best friend of seven years, standing behind him. It was thanks to Harry that Ron was at the Malfoy's masquerade in the first place. Harry, who-through his "sources"-had caught wind that the Malfoys were throwing a grand masquerade in honor of their son's French fiancée. Also through his "sources" he had managed to obtain two invitations, one for Ron and another for himself. Their other best friend, Hermione Granger, had declined the offer to accompany them.  
  
"You two are going to Draco Malfoy's masquerade?" she had asked, thoroughly disgusted. "You had better not wreck it! You two could get in a lot of trouble. I mean it! You really shouldn't go, Ron! You neither, Harry!" she had said when she heard of their plans. But that was Hermione for you. Strict, book reading, rule-abiding Hermione Granger-or should one say Hermione Potter?  
  
Ron smiled at the thought. In four months Hermione and Harry would be married in the same place as Harry's parents had been. It was about time, really, he thought. They had been dating since mid-fifth year, when Krum and Hermione had decided to be "just friends".  
  
"Yeah," Ron said after a moment's pause. "Kate Lowell. Have you seen her?"  
  
Harry's green eyes, which were the only part of his face showing from under his red mask, filled with worry. "Kate Lowell? Ron, you aren't going to dance with her, are you? I mean, she's Draco Malfoy's fiancée! Even I wouldn't go messing with the Malfoys like that. It could turn ugly! And what if they find out who we are?"  
  
"I danced with her last night and you didn't have a problem."  
  
Harry sighed. "Yeah, but I didn't know you liked her." He paused and looked at the ground. "Listen, Ron, I just want you to have the best, because you deserve it. If you really like Kate Lowell than go and dance with her." With a tip of his head and a swirl of his green cloak, Harry was gone. Ron resumed his search for Kate. He hadn't been looking very long when-  
  
"You came again?"  
  
Again Ron felt a hand on his shoulder, only this time it was Kate, dressed in a gown of gold that billowed out around her waist. The straps of the dress were made to slide off the woman's shoulders and with a matching mask and her hair done up in small ringlets Ron had to admit that she looked good.  
  
Bloody good.  
  
And her beloved fiancée wasn't around to see it. As if sensing Ron's worry Kate smiled.  
  
"Draco and Pansy went off to the guesthouse half an hour ago. He won't be of any bother," she said, and even the stupidest man couldn't miss the suggestive lilt in her voice.  
  
"Well, then," Ron replied, bowing slightly, "my I have this dance?"  
  
Kate curtsied before replying, "You may." She barely had time to straiten up before Ron had swept her off to the dance floor.  
  
***  
  
Two hours later, after twenty-three dances Ron led a breathless Kate out onto the veranda. "Having fun?" he asked, grinning. Kate nodded. She had never had more fun in her life dancing all those courantes and galliards. Though Ron had been a bit clumsy when the leaps came, he had been the only man in the whole ballroom who had been able to follow the steps correctly. Mr. Malfoy, who had been dancing with Kate's mother, had tripped and fallen more than once.  
  
After they had been standing outside for quite some time Ron asked another question. "Do you miss your home?"  
  
Kate shot him a look that told him all. "More than anything. I mean I wasn't born in France. I was born here. But then my mother begged my father to move back to her homeland, when I was three-almost four. That's why I don't have an accent, but I can speak French."  
  
"Really? Say something."  
  
"Enlevez tes masque, Ron Weasley."  
  
"And the means?"  
  
"Remove your mask, Ron Weasley."  
  
Ron chuckled softly. "Do you really want to see me, Kate?"  
  
"Yes," Kate said, and she moved one of her hands to the blue mask covering Ron's face, removing it with one quick whip of her wrist.  
  
Ron's face was not at all unpleasant. While it did not hold the same cold beauty that Draco's did, he seemed to possess a softer sort of handsomeness, one that Kate liked much better. His hair was flaming red and freckles covered the bridge of his long nose. His eyes were a light brown color, almost amber. They shone with mirth in the light coming from the large windows of L'enfer. His lips were twisted into a smirk and he was leaning up against one of the pillars that held up the second floor.  
  
"And what of you, Miss Lowell? Can I gaze upon your face once again?" he asked, removing the silver mask without receiving a reply. Kate blushed and, as his brown eyes traveled over her face, she was reminded of the way Draco had stared at her the first time they met.  
  
As if she was worthless.  
  
As if she didn't matter.  
  
As if she was a disappointment.  
  
Kate knew she wasn't-and never would be-as lovely as her sisters. She didn't need to be reminded. Not like that.  
  
Ron, sensing her shame, moved to wrap his arms around her. The sudden act of intimacy surprised Kate a great deal, but it felt too good to stop him. "He doesn't deserve you, Kate," Ron whispered. "Don't ever make yourself out to be something worse than what you really are because of what Draco Malfoy thinks. I don't know you that well, Kate, but even I can see the way you light up a room when you smile. You're a great girl Kate; don't let Malfoy stomp that out of you." Ron then held Kate back at arm's length. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"  
  
Kate nodded, still surprised by Ron's small speech. "You promise you'll be here? I hate to think that I'll be stuck with Mr. Malfoy as a dancing partner."  
  
Ron grinned. "I'll be here tomorrow, Kate," Ron said. Kate had nodded and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Night, Ron," she whispered before turning to go into L'enfer. Ron watched as she went, and staid where he was even after she had gone inside. Then, with a satisfied sigh, he turned to leave, disappearing into the dark.  
  
***  
  
"What about Draco Malfoy?"  
  
Tinkerbell shot a withering look at Rey, who had interrupted her story with a question. "Excuse me?" she asked in an icy tone, an equally icy look on her face.  
  
"What about Draco Malfoy? Where had he been? I mean, he doesn't seem like the type to sit by and let his fiancée fall in love with someone other than himself," Rey said.  
  
Tinkerbell's icy look disappeared, replaced by a far away look. "Oh, he had been with Pansy, but word got around to him that another man had been moving in on Kate. He was, of course, furious. It had never occurred to him that Kate could like-or even fall in love with-another man. So, the night of the third ball Draco didn't show. Everyone, including Ron and Kate, thought that he had just slipped off to go and shag Pansy Parkinson, but that was where they were mistaken."  
  
***  
  
Draco lurked in the shadows of the large pillars that had been built on the outside veranda. Thanks to a tip off from his cousin Marques-whom he knew was just kissing up-he now knew what a fool his "blushing bride" was making of him. Every night, when he left with Pansy, Kate got her little revenge by dancing the night away with some mysterious stranger. To make matters worse, she had left the ball last night to go walking with him, out on the very veranda he was on now.  
  
Draco grinned wickedly. After giving Pansy a rather rude brush off he had snuck out here to lay in wait. If his predictions were correct then Kate and her mystery man would soon be coming outside. Then, when they least expected it, he would leap out of the shadows, frightening them both into silence. Then the fool who had dared to go near Kate would be punished, Kate would somehow come to love himself beyond belief, and he would then go off to find Pansy. Draco loved his plans. That was because he was always the one to benefit from them.  
  
However, the young Malfoy heir's thoughts were cut short when he heard a giggle.  
  
Kate's giggle.  
  
And then a laugh.  
  
A man's laugh.  
  
Draco's face flushed red and hi blood began to boil. So he had been right. Kate did have a.friend. He staid quiet, though, even when his fiancée and the mystery man came into view, his arm around her waist, her hand entangled in his hair. They had kissed. Kate's lips were swollen and red, and she looked breathless. The man was laughing quietly, and he bent down to brush a lock of Kate's hair out of her eyes.  
  
"That's what a snog fest is like," he murmured, and Draco sensed that there had been a conversation leading up to the kiss. Kate smiled and nodded.  
  
"Thank you," she said, and the tone in her voice was much different than the one she used when speaking to Draco. It was much more sexy, much more seductive. Then, for a moment, the jealousy in Draco was so great that he would have given anything to be the mystery man and to have Kate looking and speaking to him like that.  
  
But the feeling was only for a moment.  
  
Draco decided to wait and see what happened. He would find who this man was. Where he lived. What he did for work. And then, when the time was right, he would squash the man like a beetle. But before Draco could further plan his strategy, the man leaned down for another kiss.  
  
And Draco did the first thing that came to mind.  
  
***  
  
Kate was in heaven. Whatever bliss was, it was what she was feeling now. When she had asked Ron-only twenty minutes earlier-what exactly a "snog fest" was, he had laughed, bent his head down to her level, shoved her up against a pillar, and kissed her. When they had surfaced for air a few minutes later, Kate, taking some advice from her elder sister Sophia, had run.  
  
"Boys always like it when you run," Sophia always said in her nasally voice. "It gives them something to chase after; it gives them a challenge."  
  
Luckily Sophia had been right. Ron did like chasing Kate down the veranda, through a garden, and onto the veranda again. He had laughed when he caught her.  
  
"That's what a snog fest is like," he had said, mirth gleaming in his brown eyes.  
  
"Thank you," she had replied, grinning shyly. Then Ron had bent down to kiss her. Kate had closed her eyes in anticipation. But the kiss never came. That was because, just seconds before their lips would have met, Draco Malfoy had come hurtling out of the bushes, screaming something awful.  
  
He had knocked not Ron off his feet, as Kate assumed he had intended to, but missed both people and gone crashing into an expensive stone pot that held an expensive plant from China. Then he had laid still for quite some time.  
  
"Merlin's beard," Ron had said in amazement, bending down to examine the unconscious young Malfoy, "is he dead?"  
  
Draco was not dead, much to Ron's bad luck, for the next moment the seemingly lifeless young man had the other in a headlock. A fight ensued, but Kate didn't know what had really happened, for she had begun to scream. By the time Mr. Malfoy and Goyle had pried Draco off Ron, and Ron's friend had pried Ron off Draco, both boys had a black eyes and bloody noses. They both wore looks of extreme hatred on their faces.  
  
"What the bloody hell happened, Draco? My god-Is that Arthur Weasley's son? Will someone tell me who ruined my party?" Mrs. Malfoy screamed, stomping her foot down hard.  
  
"Weasley," Draco began, tugging himself loose from his father and his friend, "was forcing himself upon Kate."  
  
There were surprised murmurings and Mrs. Lowell made a move to further hurt Ron. But luckily, Kate had intervened.  
  
"That's not true! I kissed him back!" she cried, realizing a moment too late that she had probably made everything much worse.  
  
"Malfoy here threw himself at her," Ron hissed, more to his friend than to the watching crowd.  
  
"That isn't true either," Kate said, and both boys turned to stare at her. She decided to take another piece of Sophia's boy advice.  
  
"When in doubt, start crying and run off. That always gets you the sympathy vote and the men feel awful for hurting you!"  
  
And so Kate buried her face in her hands and ran off, smiling to herself when she heard Ron and Draco call out her name.  
  
***  
  
"And then Josie begged mother to let him go, as long as he promised never to come around again. Of course Mr. Malfoy and Draco were fuming, and you'll probably get totally raked over by mum, but at least this Ron fellow got off easy. Tell me, did he really-Kate? Kate, darling, are you listening?" Kate winced as her older sister Peggy smacked her on the head with a brush. Peggy scowled deeply before resuming her task of brushing Kate's long, thick hair. "I swear, Kate! You're acting so weird lately."  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Miranda asked from across them room where she lay on her stomach on Kate's grand bed. "She's in love with Ron Weasley."  
  
Peggy snorted. "Well, Kate, if that's the case then you had better fall out of love pretty quickly. Mum was furious last night. So furious that she stormed into her apartments and staid there all night. Everyone expected her to stomp in here and rip your throat out."  
  
Miranda nodded vigorously, sitting up and eyeing her older sister with interest. "I doubt she will, though. You heard what Draco said, Peggy. Out dear Kate isn't to be blamed."  
  
Peggy paused mid-brush and glared at Miranda. "Just because Draco said that Kate wasn't to be blamed doesn't mean that mum won't. You saw how angry she was, how absolutely sure that Kate-"  
  
"Zat Kate 'ad executed 'er plan with absolute perfection and brilliance."  
  
All three heads whipped to the doorway of Kate's bedroom, where Mrs. Lowell stood, grinning like she hadn't in twenty years. Kate was rather surprised. Though she hadn't said much the night before, when Sophia and Amelia had been teasing her about botching everything up, or this morning, when Miranda and Peggy appeared to help Kate prepare for the day, she hadn't needed to. She had just gotten the feeling that she had ruined all her mother's hopes. But then why was her mother smiling? Could it be that the emotional strain caused by her soon-to-be-married daughter had broken her?  
  
"What?" Kate managed to ask after a moment or two of complete silence.  
  
"Oh, Kate," Mrs. Lowell said, stepping into the bedroom, "zere's no need to be modest. I know 'ow you planned to make Draco envious by kissing that Weasley man and make 'im finally give up Pansy Parkinson as a whore-"  
  
"What?" Miranda asked. She looked more astonished than Kate herself. Draco had fired Pansy?  
  
"Oh, don't play dumb Kate. It doesn't become you. Draco told Pansy zat 'e was going to be more faithful to 'is fiancée and zold 'er to please leave zee grounds. You've brought about an alarming change in zis boy, Kate, and it's all zanks to your plan," Mrs. Lowell said happily, hugging Kate.  
  
"You mean Draco loves Kate now?" Peggy asked, crossing her arms.  
  
"No, no, no!" Mrs. Lowell cried, her good mood broken. "'e's just obsessed with getting Kate to love 'im! But you've given me an idea, Peggy." Smiling once again Mrs. Lowell wheeled back around to face Kate. "You, my dear, need to go and find zat young man. You will tell 'im zat you're fed up with young Draco and continue to see 'im. When the zime is right you will let it slip to someone, who will zell Draco, zat you are seeing zee Weasley boy."  
  
Kate was sure he mother was mad from disappointment. Demanding that she go pursue a fake relationship with Ron? Highly unlikely. But all the same Kate wanted to see the tall, gangly, red head. "Very well, mother. I will continue my plan." She gave Mrs. Lowell a smile, and soon her mother had left the rooms.  
  
"So it was all just a plan?" Miranda asked once Mrs. Lowell was well out of their hair.  
  
"Yes," Kate said quickly. It would just be easier to tell her sisters a lie than to admit that she had a glimmer of feelings for the "Weasley boy".  
  
"When will you go to town?" Peggy asked, an eyebrow raised in interest.  
  
"Later today. I think I'll take you, Miranda, and Josephine. We'll make it seem like I slipped away from you three. The rest I'll think of as it happens," Kate muttered, more to herself than her sisters. Shrugging Peggy motioned for Kate to turn around, so she could lace up Kate's corset. With a wry face, Kate did as she was told. No sooner then Peggy had finished and helped Kate into a lilac robe with laced sleeves then Draco Malfoy himself came bursting in the room.  
  
He had gone through obvious pains to clean himself up for he smelled strongly of aftershave and his blond hair was slicked back. He had donned simple black robes and in his right hand was clutched a bouquet of red and white roses. Miranda, who was dressed only in a corset and a slip, gave a shriek of embarrassment. Peggy, who had a bathrobe on, crossed her arms and glared at Draco.  
  
"Couldn't wait until the wedding?" she asked sourly.  
  
"No, I just couldn't wait to give these to Kate," Draco muttered, his eyes dropping to the ground. He thrust out his hand and Kate took the bouquet, inhaling the scent of roses deeply.  
  
"Nice try, Romeo," Miranda called from her hiding spot behind the bed, "but Kate likes lilies and jasmine the best."  
  
Draco's face tightened. For a moment Kate was sure that Draco was going to yell at Miranda, but instead he took a deep breath and said, "Allow me to go down to the gardens and pick some for you, Kate." After carefully setting the bouquet of roses down on a table Draco turned to the door and strode out, muttering something rude under his breath. The girls didn't speak until they heard the door to Kate's apartments slam shut.  
  
***  
  
It was late at night and everyone but Ana was asleep. After telling the three friends how Draco Malfoy had finally come to pay more attention to Kate, she had said that needed to get up early tomorrow and that they should get a good night's rest. After much protesting and the promise that she would not fly off, Tinkerbell had managed to get all the eleven year olds into bed. When she had finished Ana had watched as she slumped on top of the diary and, almost instantly, fallen asleep.  
  
Tinkerbell didn't strike Ana as the mothering type. She did, however, seem to like Ana, Liza, and Rey. But then again that was probably because of their parents. Ana sighed and rolled out of bed. Sleep was not going to come to her for a while; she might as well take a walk to clear her mind.  
  
After creeping out of her bedroom, which was at the back of the cabin, past the sleeping Rey, and slipping outside undetected, Ana grinned. She often walked through the apple orchards that Mrs. Davies kept to clear her mind. It had always calmed her in a way that nothing else-not even a nice chat with Liza-could. After doing three loops through the numerous trees with barely ripe fruit Ana sat beneath the biggest one.  
  
This tree had always been special to her. For one, it was the only tree in the orchard that didn't produce fruit. Mrs. Davies always said that she would chop the old thing down, but it seemed to Ana that each time she nearly called for a servant to do so something stopped her short. Maybe it was the initials that were carved into the great trunk. On one side of the giant tree there was, carved deeply into the wood, a heart. Inside the heart there were the letters L=A. The letter before the L and A was unreadable.  
  
As Ana sat under the tree, though, she began to grow sleepy, and soon she had fallen prey to a nightmare.  
  
***  
  
It was dark when Ana awoke. It was so dark that for a moment she forgot what light had ever been like and a feeling of great despair rippled through her. But then she heard the crying of a child. It was muffled, quiet, and almost impossible to hear, but Ana knew when a child was crying, after so many years of watching over the young Davies girls.  
  
Slowly Ana made her way through the room which she was in, though it was inside and the last thing Ana remembered was sitting down under her special tree.  
  
'Oh well,' Ana though with a mental shrug, 'this isn't the first strange thing to happen to me today.'  
  
As she continued to make her way through the room Ana realized that, though it couldn't have been much bigger than her own bedroom, the room was packed with beds. Her eyes, which were adjusting to the darkness, began to see the forms of young girls. From what she could see the girls were all asleep. Except one.  
  
Finally Ana reached the bed of the crying girl, which was in the far-left corner. The covers were drawn up around the young girl, to silence her sobs, but the second that Ana sunk down upon the bed, the covers were thrown back and the sobbing stopped.  
  
"Who's there?" the little girl asked in a frightened voice. "Marjorie? Alice? Please, stop scaring me!"  
  
"But can't you see me?" Ana asked. But the girl didn't seem to hear. Instead she went back to clutching a photo and sobbing.  
  
Ana had only a moment to hug the little girl before she woke up screaming louder than she ever had before.  
  
  
  
A/N: As I said at the top, feel free to say who you want Ana's father to be: Ron Weasley or Draco Malfoy. Also, reviews are welcomed! 


	6. Chapter Six: Secrets Revealed

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
A/N: As usual, please vote for who you want Ana's dad to be: Ron or Draco. And, as usual, thanks to Dracanna Malfoy, a wonderful beta. Enjoy this chapter, though be forewarned: a good deal of secrets are revealed.  
  
  
  
  
  
It took Ana a few moments to realize that she was not in her orchard at all but an orchard very similar to the one she had fallen asleep in. And it took her another moment to realize that it was not she that was screaming but the young girl beside her. And, Ana thought with a jolt of horror, the young girl had every reason to scream.  
  
The girl's dress, which had once been white, was now tattered and stained with crimson blood. Looking up Ana found a woman standing over the girl. For a moment Ana felt a spasm of both panic and alarm as she found the woman standing over her to be Maria, a princess of the Dark Lands and Lord Voldemort's most infamous daughter.  
  
Maria had been born in Lord Voldemort's first reign of terror. It was often said that Maria's mother, Serita Sanchez, was one of the only women that the Dark Lord had ever loved, for he favored her greatly among his many other children. And though Maria was not in her father's lineup of heirs, she was powerful, cunning, and most importantly, she was willing to kill anyone or anything that stood in her way to becoming Queen of Darkness. It was only a matter of time before Voldemort named her as his heir.  
  
'And,' Ana thought with a stab of fear, 'she's bloody scary.'  
  
There was no doubt that the woman in front of her was Maria Juanita Riddle. Everyone knew what the Princess of Pain and the Duchess of Darkness looked like. Long black hair, luminous green eyes, and ginger colored skin.Every little girl in the wizarding world had a picture of her hung over their bed, in hopes to become more like the she-devil.  
  
But Ana's thoughts were interrupted when a whip came hurtling out of nowhere and struck the poor girl on the thigh, causing the poor young mite to scream out in agony. The girl's arms were covering her face, protecting it from the long leather whip that Maria was known for using.  
  
"Damn it, girl! Remove those scrawny arms from your face or I will have to cut them off!" Maria screamed, and Ana gasped in horror as Maria's left hand went to her belt, where a dagger hung in a sheath. Maria's words of anger just made the girl scrunch up into a tighter ball. Ana closed her eyes and tried to suppress the bile rising in her throat. No matter how tightly she shut her eyes, though, and no matter how firmly she pressed her hands over her ears, nothing could block out the screams of the young girl and the sound of the whip hitting the body of the girl.  
  
Finally, after what must have been twenty lashings, Ana heard Maria throw her whip to the ground. "Brat, you've only been here three days and yet you cause so much trouble! I swear, if you embarrass me one more time I will use the Cruciatus Curse on you until you burst! Bloody hell! You stay here until I return!" Maria cried, throwing her whip down to the grassy ground and storming off into the trees.  
  
Ana watched Maria leave, her eyes wide with fear. She clutched her chest and felt her heart hammering wildly against her ribcage. Turning to the girl beside her, Ana studied her face. It was dark in the orchard-but not pitch black-and the lines and features of the girl's face seemed almost familiar.  
  
And then the clouds moved away from the bright Harvest moon and a beam of moonlight fell upon the girl's bloody face. And that's when Ana really did begin to scream. For she suddenly knew the face of the girl, and she knew why it was so familiar.  
  
The girl beside Ana looked exactly like her!  
  
***  
  
Ana was surprised-but not at all unhappy-when she fund that she was yet again in another setting. This one was just as unfamiliar and strange as the rest, though. She was outside again, in front of a large two-story house. It was just becoming dusk and the lights in the house were on.  
  
Drawn by some invisible force-or her curiosity-Ana crept towards the giant front window of the house. Peeking in Ana discovered one thing about these people: they were muggles. A family of five people-a mother, a father, two girls, and a young boy no older than five-were gathered in front of a box that Amber-Lyn had once said was a television. Ana watched the box, entranced. Moving pictures much like the ones in her world moved about the screen of the box, and every once and a while the family would laugh.  
  
Rapt with interest Ana lost track of time. She was brought back to the normal world with a jolt when she heard a rustling behind her and something brushed against her leg. Whirling around Ana found the young boy staring up at her. His big blue eyes were widened in surprise and he clutched his teddy-bear tightly to his chest, as if afraid of Ana. But he couldn't see her, could he?  
  
"Who are you?" the little boy asked, clearing up any questions about her visibility.  
  
"I'm not quite sure of that answer myself, kid, but most folks call me Ana," she replied with amazing serenity, considering the situation.  
  
"Ana's a pretty name," the young boy said. "I have a sister named Ana," he added after a few moments of silence.  
  
"Oh?" Ana asked, raising an eyebrow. "Which of the two girls in there is Ana?"  
  
"Neither," the boy replied sadly. "You see, Mike and Sheryl-my foster parents-adopted me two years ago, when I was three. Those girls in there aren't my real sisters.And they don't treat me like a real brother."  
  
"Then how do you know you have a sister named Ana?" the young girl asked, crouching down so that she was eye-level with the young boy.  
  
"Well, when she left, my real mummy gave someone-I don't know who-a letter to send to me when I reached the age of five. She said that I have two sisters, one named Ana and one named Jenny. Actually, they're my half- sisters, from what she said. But anyway, she said that one day Ana and Jenny would come and find me. I hope it's soon. I'm very alone here." The boy stopped talking and hung his head down low.  
  
Ana wanted to reach out a shoulder to pat his shoulder, but before she could, the scene before her began to fade. A last question stuck Ana. "Hey, what's your name, kid?" she asked hurriedly as everything began to die away into blackness.  
  
"Nicholas. Nicholas Lowell," the boy called, and then Ana knew no more as she slipped back into her peaceful slumber. When she awoke the next morning, back in her bed, she remembered nothing of the boy named Nicholas Lowell.  
  
***  
  
All that day, Ana couldn't shake the feeling that something odd was afoot. Mrs. Davies was gone all day, and when she returned late that night there was a cold, chilling smile on her lips. Immediately she called Lindsey, Mandy, and Rachael into her private study and slammed the doors shut. Amber- Lyn had been sent to bed early, as well, without any dinner, for no apparent reason.  
  
Later, when Ana was relating the story back to her friends and Tinkerbell, the small faerie cocked her head. "Why is that so strange?" she asked. "Is Amber-Lyn Mrs. Davies favorite daughter?"  
  
"Yes," Liza replied. "She's always buying Amber-Lyn the best of clothes, the newest of brooms, and the sweetest of sweets. It's strange, though, because when he was alive, I remember Mr. Davies doing the exact opposite. I remember vaguely that before Rachael was born, he seemed quite horrid to most children, his only child as well. But then Mrs. Davies got pregnant and he seemed to be the happiest man ever.  
  
"He doted on his three younger daughters constantly, but Mrs. Davies always showered Amber-Lyn with gifts. And it's always Amber-Lyn who Mrs. Davies speaks to when she comes home from being out all day. Something's definitely up."  
  
Tinkerbell looked at Liza thoughtfully, and then out the window. "I don't believe I've ever seen Amber-Lyn. Does she look like her bony sisters?"  
  
Ana shook her head vigorously. "Actually, she's kind of pretty. She has hair a few shades darker than mine, large green eyes, and-"  
  
"GOOD LORD! IT CAN'T BE!"  
  
Ana stopped talking immediately and stared at her small winged friend. "Is something the matter, Tinkerbell?" she asked, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Rey back away from the table.  
  
"Yes, something is most definitely the matter. Ana, I have some news for you."  
  
Ana gulped. There was a dangerous gleam in Tinkerbell's eyes. "What is it?" she asked.  
  
"Well, you know that your mother had eight sisters, right?"  
  
"Yeah. So?"  
  
"So, two of your aunts, Miranda and Josie.Oh, how does one explain this?" Tinkerbell asked, throwing her tiny hands up in frustration. "You remember that I once told you that Francine Lowell had found future husbands for two of your mother's eight sisters? Well, Josie was one of them. She was betrothed to Robert Davies-"  
  
"She was going to marry Amber-Lyn's father?" Rey asked.  
  
"Rey, Robert Davies wasn't Amber-Lyn's father. And Mrs. Davies isn't her mother."  
  
The room became eerily quiet. Everyone was staring at Tinkerbell as if she had grown a second head. "What do you mean they aren't her parents?" Liza asked after a good five minutes.  
  
"Amber-Lyn was born to a woman who was supposed to be marrying Robert Davies. The father of the child was not Mr. Davies, and you can only imagine how angry he was. The poor woman was disgraced, and the child was taken from her care and placed into the care of her younger sister, Pegatha, who married Robert in her sister's place," Tinkerbell explained, sighing sadly. "Voldemort had a hand in it, no doubt. He probably wants to marry poor Amber-Lyn when she reaches a suitable age."  
  
"But that's sick!" Ana gasped. She looked out the window before locking her eyes with Tinkerbell's. "There's something you aren't telling me," she said slowly, and the faerie's guilty expression told all.  
  
"Ana, you don't want to know this," she said, and for once the exuberant faerie seemed subdued, and maybe even frightened.  
  
"Yes I do. What about Amber-Lyn is so important?"  
  
Tinkerbell began to wring her small hands. "Now, Ana, you have to promise me that you'll do nothing stupid when you find out what I'm about to tell you. And you have to understand that I myself don't understand everything that went on over the past eleven years."  
  
"I promise and understand," Ana said, though she sensed that what was coming was truly horrible.  
  
"Ana, who was one of your mother's trusted sisters?" Tinkerbell asked.  
  
"Um.Miranda was close to my mum, wasn't she?"  
  
Tinkerbell closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "No, the other one."  
  
"Peggy? What about her?" Ana asked.  
  
"You don't see the connection?" Tinkerbell asked. "Then what was your grandmother's name?"  
  
"Francine-No! Wait! You said that her name was Lynette!" Ana trailed off as Tinkerbell's secret hit her like a ton of bricks. Her mind began to think, making connections left and right.  
  
Why else would Mrs. Davies have all her mother's things?  
  
What was Peggy short for?  
  
Amber-Lyn was named after Voldemort's mother and Mrs. Davies's mother- Lynette Francine Lowell.  
  
Mrs. Davies was her aunt. But that was impossible! If Mrs. Davies was her aunt then why hadn't she taken proper care of Ana? Tears began to well up in Ana's eyes. No wonder she made Ana dye her hair! She probably looked too much like Kaitlyn Lowell. And no wonder Mrs. Davies shoved Ana in closets whenever Draco Malfoy had come around. If he saw a girl that even halfway resembled his old fiancée then questions would arise, especially if Draco Malfoy had reason to believe that he could be Ana's father.  
  
"Why didn't she take me in? Amber-Lyn got everything she ever wanted! Why didn't she tell me that she was my aunt?" Ana asked, a fury building up inside of her.  
  
"I'm not sure, Ana, but my guess is that it was hard enough to take care of Amber-Lyn without having another child around to remind her of someone she hated," Tinkerbell answered.  
  
"Why did Mrs. Davies hate my mother?" Ana asked.  
  
"Oh," Tinkerbell said, suddenly snapped out of her state of worry, "Mrs. Davies didn't hate your mother, Ana. She hated what your mother became."  
  
"What did my mum become?"  
  
"Everything that contradicted your aunt's ideas on the perfect person. Somewhere between the time your mother began her supposedly platonic love affair with Ron and the time she got pregnant their relationship changed. Which, I suppose, is the perfect cue to begin to explain the rest of the story."  
  
***  
  
Ron was sitting nonchalantly on the sandy shore by Salazar Harbor's docks, watching various magical boats coming into port and setting sail for sea. Harry and Hermione had left a little over a half an hour ago to go and get ice cream and he knew better than to think that they would return. Ron had learned long ago to except that Harry and Hermione would now being doing more and more things together, things that he could not join in. It didn't hurt that much anymore when Harry forgot about going to a quidditch game to go out with Hermione.  
  
A young woman with reddish brown hair pinned up in a bun was walking down the beach in Ron's direction. In the distance she looked a great deal like Kate. Ron sighed sadly. After the incident last night he highly doubted that he would ever see Kate again. She had seemed pretty upset when she had run off, and her mother had probably reminded Kate that he was nothing more than a commoner. As the young woman drew closer, though, Ron's heart fluttered. He didn't know how-and he didn't care how either-but Kate was standing before him, smiling shyly.  
  
"I had hoped that it was you," she whispered, and she blushed a pretty pink. "My mother thinks everything was a plan. She thinks that I was using you to make Draco jealous. She told me to find you and go out with you to further the effects of my plan."  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Was it a plan?" he asked.  
  
Kate shook her head and sat down beside him in the sand. "No, but it's a surefire way to get out of the house to see you." She leaned over and kissed Ron lightly on the cheek before asking, "You do want to see me, right?"  
  
Ron could only nod.  
  
***  
  
"Again, I must ask where Draco Malfoy was when all this was happening," Rey said, cutting Tinkerbell off and earning an icy glare.  
  
"I guess I ought to tell what he was up to," she said through clenched teeth.  
  
"It would make everything so much easier," Rey retorted, smiling in a mockingly sweet manner.  
  
"Very well, then. As Francine had predicted, Draco had become obsessed with winning Kate over. Day after day she ignored him, barely acknowledging his existence. One day he arranged for the two of them to go on a picnic."  
  
***  
  
"How much further?" Kate asked, and Draco could tell that she was more than a little upset. The carriage they were in bumped up and down along the small country road that led to a small wizarding lake. That was the location for their picnic, the one Draco himself had planned, with no help from his meddling mother or overbearing father. Getting Kate to go on the picnic had been a challenge in itself, though. She had not only rudely refused his offer for a picnic, but she had also tried to run away three times.  
  
If Draco hadn't been so busy trying to win Kate over he would have suspected that Ron Weasley was still playing a large roll in Kate's absentmindedness. Even so, a small part of him wondered where she went to every few days, sometimes at hours on end. She always seemed to be in higher moods, though, when she returned, and sometimes she even made a point to say goodnight, so he wasn't too bothered. Still, she seemed a different girl than when she arrived at Salazar Harbor, and it was a change for the better.  
  
Finally, after nearly thirty-five minutes, the enchanted carriage rolled to a stop on top of a grassy hill. The hill was shaded by several Weeping Willows and it overlooked both a lake and an orchard. As soon as the carriage had halted, Kate vaulted out of it, running across the hilltop and stooping low to pick a bouquet of wildflowers that grew in abundance around the north side of the hill. She put her nose up to the flowers and inhaled the sweet scent, rolling her eyes in exaggerated pleasure.  
  
"It smells heavenly," she said to no one in particular.  
  
"Does it now?" Draco asked, striding over to where Kate was sitting slowly, as if she were a delicate creature that could be scared off at the slightest movement.  
  
"It does. It reminds me of the flowers my father used to pick me when we went to our manor near the ocean. He used to make Josie, Miranda, and I such pretty wreaths.He said we were his pretty princesses. He made little bracelets for Keri and Jeannette, my two youngest sisters." Kate stopped talking and suddenly Draco found that she had locked her dark blue eyes with his steely gray ones. "Do you love your father, Draco?"  
  
Draco was caught off guard. Did he love his father? "What kind of question is that?" he asked slowly.  
  
"A pretty simple one," Kate replied.  
  
"But a stupid question none the less. What business is it of yours to ask me such personal questions? You have no right to question me at all! You're not my mother-"  
  
"BUT I'M YOUR FUTURE WIFE!"  
  
Draco stepped back a good five feet. Kate had sprung to her feet and her fury and anger towards him seemed to fill the entire tree enclosed clearing. Kate's face was twisted into a frightfully furious mask and for a few moments Draco feared for his life.  
  
"That's the problem, Draco Malfoy! That's the bloody problem! You never tell me anything! You walk around with the look on your face like you're some sort of king and you expect me to fall all over you! But it's all an act, Malfoy, it's all an act! Why should I give a damn about you if you don't give a damn about me? I have every right to know personal things about you because we are going to be married! Neither of us may like this predicament, but we at least owe it to ourselves to be honest!" Kate was breathing heavily by the time she finished her tirade. Draco could only stare at her.  
  
"Oh, lord! I lost my temper there. That was something I inherited from my father, you know.My fiery Lowell temper." Kate straitened up and grinned a little.  
  
"Oh, don't worry. I accept your apology," Draco said, and suddenly Kate's expression went sour.  
  
"I never said I was sorry," she hissed, and Draco knew that he had once again set off her "fiery Lowell temper", possibly worse than before.  
  
"But you meant it, right?"  
  
"If I was sorry I would have said so," Kate whispered, and by the way she clenched her jaw Draco knew he was in for it. Surprisingly, though, Kate just sat down and snapped at him to fetch the picnic basket.  
  
Draco took his wand out and cried, "Accio," grinning when the basket came flying his way. They ate in silence. From the look in her deep blue eyes Kate's mind was somewhere else. Or on someone else.  
  
"I'm done now," Kate said, and she stood and stretched. "Is the water in that lake sanitary?"  
  
"I believe so," Draco replied, and he watched as she rolled down the hill. Her pale green robes and reddish-brown hair were combined in a whirlwind effect, and Draco had the mad urge to roll alongside her.  
  
Kate stopped rolling halfway down the hill and Draco jogged to join her. "Roll with me," she said as he stood over her. "It's the only way to get down a hill."  
  
Draco smirked and shook his head. "No thanks. I'll stick to walk-AH!" Kate had grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him down to the grassy hillside before continuing to roll down, pulling him with her. When they reached the bottom of the hill Draco's dark gray robe had many a grass stain on it and his hair was terribly mussed and out of place.  
  
"Now wasn't that fun?" Kate asked, standing and dusting herself off. Draco just muttered a few nasty words and shrugged. "Well, I'm going swimming," Kate declared.  
  
"Don't you need a swimsuit for that?" Draco asked, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, a slip's just as good as any suit," Kate replied, throwing her robes over her head. Draco studied her body, clad in a corset and overdress, for only a moment. It saw a shame she wasn't as lovely as her sisters. What he wouldn't give to be marrying that Marlene instead...  
  
"WATCH OUT DRACO!"  
  
Kate's cry alerted the young Mr. Malfoy, but not quickly enough. A wave of cold water doused him as Kate's body hit the water. Sopping wet, Draco shot up. His normally pale skin was flushing a frightful pink, but all Kate could do was laugh heartily.   
  
"You look like a wet rat!" she cried, grinning at him. Draco shot her a venomous look.  
  
"How.dare.you!" he hissed through clenched teeth. Kate's smile faltered. "My god, what a mess you are," he continued. "You have no class, no talents, and definitely," he drew out the word, "no beauty. Comparing you to your older sisters is like comparing my father's purebred Irish Setters with that runt my mother likes to keep around. Or comparing this rose," he tore a white rose off a nearby plant, "to this weed," he indicated a scraggly weed that grew in abundance around the lake.  
  
He glanced at Kate's face and knew instantly he had stepped over the line. With a look like a beaten puppy Kate dove down into the depths of the murky lake. Draco cursed to himself before running to the edge of the water. It had been a good three minutes and she hadn't yet surfaced. Something was wrong. Removing his robes, watch, and ring, Draco took a running start and dove gracefully into the water.  
  
***  
  
Never in her life had she been so cold. She opened her mouth to breath but water rushed in, causing her to choke and sink deeper into the dark depths of the lake. Kate kicked and flailed, trying to reach the surface, where a flicker of light shimmered. But it was no use. The small claws that ripped her slip dragged her down deeper.  
  
A panicking fear began to take over Kate.If only she hadn't dove directly into that swarm of grindylows.If only she hadn't swam away from Draco. She'd give anything to be with him right now. She'd forgive him for everything he'd ever done to her if she could just be above water.  
  
Kate wondered how everyone would take it when she died.Ron, would he cry? Would her own mother cry, for that matter? And what about Draco? Would he regret anything he had done to her? Maybe he would feel as if he had sent her to her death.Maybe she'd be a ghost, and she could haunt him forever.  
  
But all the maybes were driven from Kate's frightened mind when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and a mighty kick sent half the grindylows flying. The other half attached themselves to the person-Draco?- and, before much more could happen, some bubbles escaped from Kate's lips and she fell into a deep unconsciousness.  
  
***  
  
Draco beat off the last of the grindylows and shot for the top of the water. He was slowed down, though, by Kate's body. Just a few seconds ago she had grown much limper and much heavier, and he didn't want to think about what that could mean. He broke the surface and gulped a deep breath of air. It stung his lungs, but he was too worried to notice. Paddling over to the shore of the lake, Draco pulled himself and Kate as far out of the water as he could manage.  
  
The only thing that kept him from collapsing was the image of standing over Kate's casket with her whole family staring at him with accusing eyes. Draco stared at Kate for a moment. Her skin was paler than was healthy and her eyes were shut. Her lips were turning blue and, upon running his thumb across her cheek, Draco found that Kate felt...cold.too cold.  
  
In the end, Draco never knew how he saved her, or if it was even him that brought Kate back to life. He wasn't a muggle and knew nothing of mouth-to- mouth resuscitation. He also knew very little on revival spells, and so it was anyone's guess as to how he knew to use a shocking spell. Pressing his wand to Kate's chest, Draco whispered, "Offendo!"  
  
A powerful surge of electricity shot through Kate's body, and her limbs flailed out in response. But she still didn't awaken. Draco tried the spell again, and again, and again, until there was a spluttering sound and Kate began to cough up water. Draco gave a loud whoop of joy and swept her into his arms before remembering the terms that they had last parted on. He tried to set her down carefully, but found that Kate had wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
"Oh, lord.Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so sorry.I'm so sorry! Oh.Thank you!" Kate sobbed, and her whole body began to tremble, despite the warmth of the afternoon.  
  
"Stop crying, Kate," Draco whispered, and for one short moment he rested his lips in her hair, but only for a moment. He took one of her shaking hands and squeezed it gently. Kate stopped crying and looked at him, and in her eyes Draco saw her heart open a tiny bit. And, seeing that, he allowed his heart to do the same.  
  
Maybe he could come to love Kaitlyn Lowell.  
  
***  
  
Tinkerbell sighed. "That's all I can tell tonight," she said, smiling sadly at the three children surrounding her. "Go and get a good night's sleep."  
  
With much grumbling and mumbling, Ana, Rey, and Liza moved towards their beds. Once under the covers Tinkerbell dimmed the lights and sat down on the table. Ana lay awake, tossing and turning, her mind reeling with the new information from that evening. Why had 'aunt Peggy' treated her so cruelly if she was in fact her own flesh and blood?  
  
It was just another mystery to add to the many puzzlements that had plagued her mind for so long. Suppressing the fierce desire to storm Davies Manor and question Mrs. Davies on the matter Ana rolled over and fell asleep. From the table Tinkerbell watched her with a sadness in her heart so deep that tears began to roll down her pale cheeks. In a short period of time that young girl, so small and scrawny, would be faced with a challenge so great that it would likely kill her.  
  
No one but the small faerie knew what lied in store for the young Lowell girl and her friends, and not even Tinkerbell knew what would happen if the three of them were to parish. Nor did she try to. The idea was just that awful. 


	7. Chapter Seven: On the Run

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter.As usual I'll mention my wonderful beta, Dracanna Malfoy. And remember! You can vote (by review) who you want to be Ana's father: Ron Weasley or Draco Malfoy. Thanks!  
  
  
  
The next day was cold and rainy. As if the previous day's events hadn't been revealing enough, as Ana, Liza, and Rey were halfway to the manor they saw Mrs. Davies through the window, bustling down the lawn, her dark blue cloak billowing out from behind her. A tall, elegant, sleek man followed in her wake, his fair blonde hair reaching down to his pointy chin. Ana couldn't place the man's cold, hard face, but something about it sparked her memory.  
  
When Mrs. Davies caught sight of Ana, she paled slightly. Ana did the same. She hadn't planned on facing 'Aunt Peggy' quite so early in the day and she hadn't yet planned how to act civil towards her. Mrs. Davies halted a hundred feet from the trio and tried to veer off course but the man caught her arm with a gloved hand.  
  
"Wait, Pegatha. Who might these three be?" he asked in a sophisticated drawl. Ana squinted harder. The man seemed so familiar, and yet she was sure she had never seen him in her life.  
  
"Oh, just a few servants. My youngest, in fact. But you wouldn't care about them, would you?" Mrs. Davies asked, and though her tone was crisp and her eyes were cruel, something about the way she held herself suggested that she was more than a little flustered.  
  
"Ah, yes I would. One of them might be able to help me with my mission. Why should you have to take time out of your day to show me around?" the man asked, and he suddenly turned to Ana, his gloved finger pointing at her. "You, girl! Do you know your way around the grounds of this manor? More specifically, do you know your way through the woods?" he asked.  
  
Ana gulped before choosing her words wisely. "Sir, I've lived here all my life and I know the grounds-save the private gardens-by heart. I've explored the woods a few times and though my knowledge of them is not as extent as is my knowledge of the grounds, I don't believe I'd get lost." Ana kept her eyes trained on the ground the entire time she was speaking, to show the submissiveness that most Death Eaters-which this man probably was-liked from their 'lessers'.  
  
"That's good enough," the man said, and he glanced back at Mrs. Davies. "I do hope you won't mind if I borrow this young girl for my mission?"  
  
Mrs. Davies was losing her reserve. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and, if one were to watch her long enough, they'd notice that she seemed to be having difficulties breathing. "No, not at all. Not at all," she replied after a few tense seconds.  
  
The man clapped his hands together. "Very well, then. Come with me, girl. I need you to take me to a few different spots on your mistress's grounds. Understand?"  
  
Ana was only able to give the man a weak nod. With one little wave to Liza and Rey, she turned and ran after the man, who was walking in great strides. To her surprise, he seemed almost friendly, for when he saw the effort she was giving to keep up he slowed down.  
  
"I'm not usually like this," the man said when he saw the look Ana had on her face. "It's just that.Well, there's something about you.Something that reminds me of my son, Draco, when he was your age."  
  
Ana stopped dead in her tracks. Now it all made sense. Mrs. Davies hadn't wanted her to go anywhere with this man because he was Lucius Malfoy! Ana shuddered to imagine what would happen if Mr. Malfoy knew that Mrs. Davies had kept a possible grandchild from him for eleven years.  
  
"Keep up, girl!" Mr. Malfoy cried, and Ana saw a bit of his bitter side as he turned around and called for her. Once Ana had caught up to him again, Mr. Malfoy looked down at her and asked what he should call her.  
  
"Girl is fine, sir," Ana replied in a subdued tone.  
  
The man frowned. "Perhaps you did not understand my question, girl. What is your name?"  
  
"Ana."  
  
"Well, Ana, I'd like you to take me to the lake that's around these parts," Mr. Malfoy said. "Mrs. Davies said that her late husband enchanted a forest to grow up between the mansion and the lake so that their children would not wander off and drown. Do you know what I'm talking about?"  
  
"Yes, sir. There's a path that leads directly to the lake. It's a bit overgrown, though," Ana said, pointing to the woods.  
  
"I'll just blast the rubble out of the way with my wand," the man said. "Keep out of the spell's way, Ana. I wouldn't want Mrs. Davies to have to find a replacement, now would I?" The way he chuckled revealed that he wouldn't mind inconveniencing Mrs. Davies at all. Ana gulped and led the Death Eater-and possibly her grandfather-into the woods.  
  
***  
  
Ana arrived back at her cabin late that evening. The lights were off, but she didn't notice. She was well worn out from the physical workout Mr. Malfoy had put her through. After she had taken him to the lake he had demanded that she lead him through the orchard, into a wooded clearing, and up a hill by the lake. When the two reached each destination Mr. Malfoy would stop and study the area with his cold gray eyes. Then he would tell Ana to wait somewhere out of sight while he did something secret.  
  
A few minutes later he'd call for her to return to the area and demand that she take to the next spot. Finally, just as the sun was setting, Mr. Malfoy declared that he was done. He escorted Ana back to the cabins and nodded briskly before apparating to who knew where. When Ana walked in the cabin, she found it to be strangely quiet.  
  
"Hello?" she called, and her hand fumbled for the switch. "Rey? Liza? Tinkerbell? Are you in here?" By now Ana was beginning to feel a little panicked. Finally her hand found the light switch and she flipped the lights on.  
  
And then she gasped.  
  
The entire cabin looked as if a tornado had hit it. The small table, at which they sat and ate at, had been thrown against the wall. Dishes and plates had been thrown around the room in a wild frenzy, and, as she walked slowly into the cabin, Ana stepped over the broken pieces. The cupboards had been smashed in and the sink had been left running. Ana didn't notice any of this, though.  
  
All she saw was the small purple diary.  
  
It had been left in the middle off her room without a scuff or scratch upon it. Ana bent down to pick her mother's diary up. Somehow she knew it would tell her where he friends had been taken. It might even answer where her mother was.  
  
Ana moved to the back room and sat upon her bed, or what was left of it. Whoever had broken in had torn the pillows, quilt, and mattress of her small cot to shreds. Slowly, Ana opened the diary. Maybe, just maybe, she could open her mother's memories simply by being her daughter. Ana took a deep breath and placed both palms flat on the open pages of the diary.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Ana closed her eyes and began to think of all the things Tinkerbell had told her. She thought of all the things she wanted to find out. And slowly Ana felt something begin to happen.  
  
And then the pages began to glow.  
  
***  
  
Entering the memories of the diary was much different for Ana then the first time she had done so. Memories, voices, and pictures whirled before Ana, like a tornado, only calmer. Every once and a while a picture would flash before Ana and the young girl would see just a bit of her mother's life.  
  
"Wait up, Josie! What's the matter?"  
  
"Oh, Kate! I have some bad news!"  
  
Ana turned every which way, trying to take everything in at once.  
  
"Mother, I will die before I quit school to go and marry that moron!"  
  
"Well, zen, Kate, your fiancé will marry a dead woman!"  
  
It was amazing, watching someone grow up before your eyes. Finally one last memory played before Ana. Kate was sitting in a small, sterile looking white room. She was seated on a table and a worried look was on her face. Finally, a woman dressed in a nurse's uniform opened the door.  
  
"Ma'am? I'm afraid those tests you took were right," the woman said. Kate's face looked horrified.  
  
"Oh, Merlin.he'll kill me!" she murmured, placing her hand on her belly.  
  
"It's a girl, ma'am. You're pregnant with a little girl, in case you were wondering."  
  
Kate looked up. "Oh, a little girl.How nice!"  
  
And the image began to fade, into another one. With on final look at her mother's worried face, Ana found herself in the middle of a small kitchen. An Asian woman bustled around the kitchen. She was short, petite, and incredibly pretty. Her black hair was cropped short and was just long enough to tuck behind her ears. Her features were delicate in a certain way that seemed very familiar to Ana, as well as the feeling of shyness that radiated off the woman.  
  
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!  
  
The woman stopped stirring the pot of soup she had simmering on the stove and rushed through a door behind Ana. A strong tugging at Ana's naval pulled her after the woman, into what appeared to be a living room. The woman was at the door, smiling brightly at a tall man with red hair and the woman on his arm. Though she looked much different then the first time Ana had seen her, there was no mistaking her mother, Kate Lowell. The man must have been Ron Weasley, with his long nose and amber eyes.  
  
Maybe it was just the yearning Ana had for an identity for her nameless father, or maybe she was just tired from the day's work, but she could see bits of herself in Ron. Shaking her head, Ana crossed the room to hear the conversation better.  
  
"Oh, I'm so glad you two made it! Ron, you look great! And you must be Kate! Ron's told us so much about you! I'm Cho, by the way! My husband, Lee- He should be down in a few minutes!" She said, and all in one breath. Cho and Lee-Liza's parents. No wonder the woman had looked so familiar. Tinkerbell had been right. Liza had inherited much of her mother's beauty and charm.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Cho," Kate said. "Ron said that you two work together. Talent scouts for England's quidditch team?"  
  
"Yes," Cho replied, stepping back and allowing the two in. "I told Ron about the job when he got out of Hogwarts. He hasn't been with us too long but already he shows talent. Our keeper's retiring after this season so I'm taking Ron around to check out a few possibilities."  
  
"Cho? Is Oliver here yet?" a voice from upstairs asked.  
  
Cho turned around. "No Lee! But Ron and his girlfriend are here!" she yelled back.  
  
"Really?" Now the voice sounded amused. "The one that's engaged to Malfoy?" There were footsteps on the stairs and a black man appeared, his dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail and a big grin on his face. His grin reminded Ana of Liza, and for a moment the young girl wondered what had happened to her friends. "Boy, Ron, you sure do know how to pick 'em!"  
  
"Lee!" Cho gasped. "We agreed not to talk about that." she hissed.  
  
"Oh, Cho, it's fine. Your husband has every right to poke fun at me-after all, I am engaged," Kate said.  
  
"Yes, well, that seems to be a growing trend!" Lee said, earning the coldest look from his already miffed wife. "What? It's true! Oliver's girlfriend in engaged, isn't she? To Roger Davies's older brother.Robert, isn't it?"  
  
Ana saw her mother's eyes grow wide, but she seemed to be the only one, for at that moment the doorbell rang and everyone turned their attention to the people at the door. The first to step in was a young woman, not as pretty as Cho, but still quite comely, with bushy brown hair and kind brown eyes. The man who followed soon after could be only one person, with his messy black hair, mischievous green eyes, and gold-rimmed glasses.  
  
It was the great Harry Potter and his fiancé, Hermione Granger.  
  
Ana couldn't help but smirk as her eyes ran over Harry's fit body. If Rey was going to look half that good then he'd be beating ladies off with a stick. Another pang of sadness hit Ana and she shoved all thoughts of her friends out of her mind.  
  
"Hello everyone. Ah, you must be Kate! I'm Hermione. Pleased to meet you," Hermione was saying, and she held her hand out to shake Kate's. Kate took Hermione's hand rather coldly and shook it politely before dropping it like a hot rock. Hermione looked at Ron with a hurt questioning look and Ron mouthed 'pureblood'. Hermione's eyebrows shot up and, before anything terribly dramatic could happen there was yet another knock on the door.  
  
"Oh, this must be Oliver and his girlfriend-Josephine is her name, isn't it?" Cho asked nervously, and she smoothed her hair down before throwing open the door with great gusto and turning on her infectious smile.  
  
"Cho! Lee! Harry! Ron! Hermione! And you must be Kate! Wonderful to see you all!" A tall broad shouldered man with a thick head of light brown hair stepped in, a pretty blonde woman on his arm. "Everyone, this is-"  
  
"Josie. What a surprise." Everyone turned to stare at Kate, who was staring at the blonde woman with amused eyes. The woman blinked a few times.  
  
"Katie?" she asked rather uncertainly, as if afraid she had the wrong person.  
  
"Yeah. So you got tired of Robert? Can't blame you. That man is the biggest- "  
  
"Wait?" Lee asked. "You two know each other?"  
  
The woman-whom Ana already knew to be her aunt Josephine-grinned. "Know each other? This is my kid sister!"  
  
There was a shocked silence. Ron was staring at Josephine, the man-who Ana assumed was this Oliver fellow-was staring at Kate, and the rest couldn't decided who to stare at, so they contented themselves with staring at the ground. Then Lee began to laugh. Harry was quick to follow him, but both men stopped hastily when they saw the looks on their lady loves' faces.  
  
"So," Lee began after a few seconds, "you're sisters. How.interesting. Do you both hate your fiancé's that much or are just-okay, Cho, I'll shut up."  
  
Cho nodded briskly at her husband before turning to the sisters. "So, you're both Lowell girls. How wonderful! Now, let's just move on into the dining room while I have a talk with my husband, who is, by the way, will be sleeping on the couch tonight."  
  
The memory began to fade, and suddenly Ana found herself outside the Jordan's house and down the street, hot on the trail of her mother. Kaitlyn Lowell was running full tilt down the street, and tears were streaming down her face, on which a black eye was blossoming. Kate stopped running once she was a good three blocks away from the Jordan's house. She sunk to her feet on the pavement and cried openly.  
  
She had been at it for a good five minutes when there was a quiet, "Kate?" Both Kate and Ana started a bit, and both turned to see that Ron had followed Kate. He looked very concerned, but also a little hostile. Something had happened at dinner, Ana thought. Probably something that had stemmed from Kate and Hermione's handshake, something that had stemmed from Ron whispering, "Pureblood."  
  
"What the bloody hell do you want, Weasley?" Kate asked, standing up to her full height. Ron winced at the words that flew from her mouth, and with good reason. Kate's tone of voice was truly acidic, and for a brief second in time Ana saw her mother's bad side.  
  
"I want to say I'm sorry for what Hermione did. She didn't mean to-"  
  
"Shut up, Ron. Just shut up. I heard you all talking about me while I was out of the room. How me and Josie are cold, unfeeling, money-hording bitches!"  
  
"I never said that Kate!" Ron cried.  
  
"But you never stopped it, did you? Let me tell you something, Ronald Weasley! I may be rich, I may be a bitch, but if there's one thing I'm not, it's unfeeling!" Kate paused for a moment and shot Ron a look that would have iced over hell. "Not even money could buy me that!" She turned on her heel and stormed down the block, blasting flowers out of her way.  
  
"Kate! Wait! Come on, Kate! It's not like you weren't at fault! What about ignoring Hermione most of the night, huh? I guess Malfoy did rub off on you!" Ron cried. Kate stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. In the end, Ana would never know what really happened. All she ever really saw was her mother flying down the sidewalk and hitting Ron dead on in the jaw. Ron grunted and fell to the ground, groaning.  
  
Kate turned around to walk away when Ron stuck out his hand and caught her heel. With a screech like a banshee Kate fell to the ground. She tried to scramble away but Ron had grabbed her by the arms and was only pulling her closer. Finally, after Kate had stopped struggling, Ron cupped her chin with his right hand and sighed.  
  
"Kate, I'm sorry for what I said about Malfoy, but you did act weird around Hermione. And I had told you she was muggleborn," he said, and Kate jerked away.  
  
"Muggleborns are lower than-"  
  
"Damn it Kate!" Ron cried and he jerked away from her. "When is it going to sink in? When are you going to get it? People are judged not by how pure their blood is but by how pure there hearts are. And you don't get that. I pity you for that Kate."  
  
Kate was crying again, and Ron wrapped his arms around her. He murmured something into her right ear, something that made Kate sob even louder. "I love you too, Ron. I love you too."   
  
The scene began to fade again, and soon Ana was on the deck of a large yacht. Not surprisingly, a little down the deck, leaning on the aide of the boat and looking into the water, was her mother and a man who could only be Draco Malfoy. He looked exactly like Mr. Malfoy, only much younger, and more innocent, though not by much. The two were talking quite cordially despite the relationship Tinkerbell had relayed to her. Inching closer, Ana eavesdropped on their conversation.  
  
"So, do you like the boat?" Draco was asking.  
  
"Oh, yes, it's lovely," Kate replied, and there was not a hint of sarcasm or resentment towards her fiancé. Ana blinked. Could Tinkerbell have been lying?  
  
"Really, then? I'll tell my father to buy it for us. As a wedding gift, or something," Draco said, and Ana saw only the slightest of tensing when Draco mentioned the wedding.  
  
Draco noticed too. "What's the matter?" he asked, an offended look on his face. "I thought you and I-You said that things were getting better, and a week ago at that. I mean, we've been traveling together for a month, Kate, and we've even become friends! Why can't you bring yourself to love me?"  
  
Kate backed away from the edge of the deck as if afraid Draco was about to throw her overboard. "Draco I never said that things were better. I just said-"  
  
"Well, you made it damn well sound like it was," Draco hissed. "If I'm really that repulsive then why did you agree to come sailing with me?"  
  
"Because," Kate said, and her dark blue eyes were flashing, "you promised that we would stop at France."  
  
Draco's face fell. "So you just wanted to go back home?" he asked. Kate had turned away from him, so she did not see the almost hurt expression on Draco's usually smug face. But Ana saw everything. Strange emotions were written across her mother and Draco's faces. Ana suspected that the same thing was happening to Draco as it was to Kate; both were falling in love without knowing it. Maybe they were already in love, and the slightest twinges of feelings were beginning to show.  
  
"I'm sorry Kate," Draco muttered, though he looked far from sorry. "We'll arrive in France within two days, or so the captain says. I'm retiring to my cabin for the afternoon. Do make sure that the house elves know not to disturb me." He gave Kate a curt nod walked around a corner and out of view, leaving the air just as chilly as ever.  
  
***  
  
Ana had fully expected to find herself in the next memory of her mother's diary. Instead she was sitting on the floor of her cabin, clutching the diary in her hands. Slamming the diary shut, Ana jumped to her feet. She began whirling around wildly, looking for whomever-or whatever-had brought her back to the present time. Ana gasped when she saw that it was a faerie.  
  
Like Tinkerbell, she was only a few inches tall, though that was where the similarities ended. This faerie had ginger colored skin, dark brown tresses, and olive green eyes. She was-now that Ana had examined her-a good inch taller than Tinkerbell, but had the same feminine features.  
  
"It really is you," the faerie gasped, her eyes widening like saucers. "The savior!"  
  
"What?" Ana asked. Obviously this faerie-who was also lacking her wings-had mistaken her for some else.  
  
"You, the daughter of Kaitlyn Lowell!" Or maybe not. "Do you not know your destiny? Do you not know what you are to do?" When Ana shook her head the faerie's face fell. "Well, surely you know your mother?"  
  
"I know her name and bits of her past," Ana said, and the faerie shook her head sadly.  
  
"How sad.Kate would want you to know her story. Well, before I can tell you your future, I guess I have to tell you about Kate's lovers, Ron-"  
  
"Oh, I know most of her tale already. You interrupted me when my mum and Draco were on the deck of the boat," Ana explained, and before the faerie could ask her anything else she gave an expectant look.  
  
The faerie sighed and shrugged. "Very well. First I must introduce myself. I was a gift to Kaitlyn Lowell, from her lover, Ron Weasley. He caught me one day with my band off. But that's a story for another day. I suppose if you've gotten this far you know.Tinkerbell." The faerie spat the name out in disgust.  
  
"Yes, Tinkerbell. She's been a great help to me."  
  
The faerie nodded, a scowl on her face. "Figures that blonde bimbo would leave out the single most important detail of the story. It just figures! I don't know why Kate trusted her to be the key!" Noticing Ana's questioning stare, the faerie gave a dry smile. "Tinkerbell and I.We hated each other as much as Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy did. It was always a rivalry between us. By the way, my name's Sugar-Plum. As in Sugar-Plum Faerie, from the Nutcracker? Kate thought it was a hoot to give us such names."  
  
Ana could only nod.  
  
"Oh, and call me Sugar. That's what all my friends call me.Or did. I haven't had any real friends for a while. About eleven years to be exact. You see, Kate left Tinkerbell to watch over you and-Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself again. I guess I should pick up from where you were left off. A week after Kate and Ron admitted that they loved each other Kate was offered a chance to go on a two month sailing trip with Draco. She accepted on the terms that she'd get to spend half of that time in France.  
  
"By the time they were nearing France the two were becoming friends. They respected each other, liked each other a bit, and even shared a few interests. But Kate had made a promise to Ron. When she returned to Salazar Harbor the two of them would run away and get married. They'd move to a faraway place and instead of getting a job right out of school Ron would go to college while Kate finished school. It was a rash decision on both of their parts, but Kate couldn't risk falling in love with Draco Malfoy." Sugar sighed and shook her head. "Silly girl.Draco, too, didn't want to fall in love.  
  
"He wanted to get Kate to fall in love with him. Then he would crush her heart and turn her into an obedient wife. But both of them made one big mistake on that trip.They went to the city of lights, love, and romance; Paris.And that's where the story picks up."  
  
***  
  
In Paris, in a not-so-nice neighborhood, down a dingy alleyway, and under a banana colored fence, there was a small lot. Now, to the normal, non- magical, muggle eye, this lot would be empty, save for a sign that read 'No Trespassing! Keep Out!' Those who had the slightest bit of magical blood in them might see a glimmer of something, but in the end a foreboding feeling would overcome the person and they would scramble under the fence faster than a Niffler after gold.  
  
However, if one were magical, they would see a decrepit old shack standing in the middle of the lot. Posted by each door were two large black Kneazles, forever guarding the doors into Lumière et Amour the only all- magical city in all of Paris. All you need do to get in was pass let the Kneazles check you over. No one who was not of pure heart and valor was ever allowed in Lumière et Amour. That had been the first of the three hitches in Kate's stay in Paris.  
  
When she and Draco reached the door the Kneazles allowed her to pass them, but began hissing and spitting when Draco tried to follow Kate.  
  
"What's going on?" Draco had asked, biting his lip in frustration as the smaller Kneazel began to claw at his new designer robes.  
  
"Draco, don't you know French?" Kate had retorted, frowning and pointing to a plaque on the side of the building. Though worn and old, the poem on the plaque was still as readable as the day it had been placed there.   
  
"No, Kate, I never saw a point to learning French," Draco snapped irritably.  
  
"Well, Draco," Kate said, frowning and shouldering her bag, "it reads: May thee enter if thy heart is pure and thy intentions of good meaning. May thee enter if thee is an innocent child or carefree young girl. But stay away if thee wishes to bring pain upon thy fellow human being and if thy heart is full of malice."  
  
Draco just stared. "Well, then, Ms. Pure-of-Heart, how might I get in?"  
  
Kate shrugged. "No one has ever entered Lumière et Amour without being given the Kneazles approval. I don't see how you could get in-Wait! There might be one way!" Kate knelt down beside the smaller of the two catlike creatures and pulled out a necklace Draco had never seen before. She dangled it in front of the Kneazle's large golden eyes and whispered, "Salutation, frères. I, a soeur de l'Lumière, demander a faveur de vous."  
  
The Kneazle seemed to understand Kate's words for it turned to its partner and nodded. The other Kneazle almost seemed to smirk before doing a small circle. Then both Kneazles began to grow. Kate stood up and stepped back to where Draco stood, rooted to the ground, and stood stalk still.  
  
The Kneazles kept growing, there paws turning to hands and their tails shrinking into their behinds. Fur disappeared and limbs lengthened as the Kneazles began to become human. Finally, after a minute or so, two grown men stood in the place where the Kneazles had only moments before.  
  
"Welcome, sister," the first said, bowing to Kate and nodding curtly to Draco. This man was the smaller of the two, with soft looking black hair that hung down to his elbows. He was of a slender, lithe build and his nose, cheekbones, and lips were so delicate looking that they seemed feminine. His companion was, by all means, the exact opposite: tall and broad, with hair cropped short and three earrings in his left ear.  
  
The second man-who seemed to know Kate-bowed also, then stared down his long, pointy nose at Draco. "Well, Kate, what can I do you for?"  
  
"Lisle, please-we've been friends forever! Can't you reexamine him? Draco's really quite a nice man, once you get to know him." Kate's blue eyes pleaded with Lisle's cold gold ones.  
  
"Oh, he's bona fide, Kate. Even I wouldn't deny it! But there's something in his soul. There's a burning hatred for everything that defies him, though he masks the hatred so well that even he may not be aware of it. Kate, there's something in Draco Malfoy that made my fur stand on end. He has the makings of a Death Eater all within his head. And I don't like the way he treats you."  
  
Of course, all this was whispered in French, so that Draco could not understand a word of what they were saying. The trademark Malfoy sneer was upon Draco's lips as he surveyed the first, smaller guard, who seemed bursting to interrupt his partner. Finally, when the temptation became to great, the first guard cut into the conversation, in English, much to Draco's relief.  
  
"But, Lisle, cannot we send a guard to watch over Mr. Malfoy? 'Ow could we part our dear Kate with zee man who is to be 'er 'usband in only a few months?" he asked, and Draco noted that the first guard's accent was almost as heavy as Mrs. Lowell's.  
  
"I think that's a wonderful idea!" Kate cried, clapping her hands together.  
  
"I don't," Lisle said, wiping the smile of Kate's face. "But Kate, if you swear that he'll behave, then I suppose I could post.Maybe Felicite could keep an eye on him.But if Silas Maire gets word, he'll be furious." Lisle seemed very nervous at the moment, so unlike the machismo attitude he had displayed earlier.  
  
"Oh, Lisle-How can I thank you?" Kate asked, smiling brightly and hugging the tall man. Lisle blushed and bowed again before turning to the other.  
  
"Chevalier, please go and fetch Felicite. Tell her that for the next few days she will keep a constant eye on Mr. Malfoy here, and tell her that if she feels he is a danger to our society that she should go to you or I. You're dismissed!"  
  
With a quick nod the other guard, Chevalier, turned back into what Draco assumed was his animagi form. Chevalier the Kneazle winked at Kate, bowed his black head to Draco, and flicked his bushy tail at Lisle before running through a cat door at the bottom of the door into Lumière et Amour.  
  
"Well, Kate, it was nice talking with you. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get back to guard duty. It's the holidays and people are coming in by the boatloads." And with that Lisle too was in his anamagi form.  
  
Kate and Draco stood awkwardly for a moment, making sure that there was a good five foot area between them. Kate suspected that Draco would have gotten closer to her and struck up a conversation had it not been for Lisle's almond shaped eyes on them and the way his tail swished in the air. Thankfully, though, they did not have to wait long. Within fifteen minutes after his leaving, Chevalier returned through the cat door, followed by a slender brown female Kneazle with a sleek glossy coat. Chevalier, after purring and rubbing up against Kate's leg, went back to his post, though his eyes didn't stray from the female Kneazle, who was, by now, transforming from her anamagi form.  
  
Soon a young woman stood before the engaged couple. Her hair was chin length and everything about her-from her nose to her shoulders to her hips- seemed sharp and spiky. The woman-no doubt Felicite-gave Kate the impression of a cold, harsh, ice queen with little emotion other than contempt. Her beauty, though, was breathtaking. Her hair was a rich shade of milk chocolate and her eyes were deep hazel flecked with green and gold. With lips like that of a Roman princess and skin that had never seen a blemish in its entire life, Felicite had the attention of every man in the small lot.  
  
And none more than Draco's. Kate's dislike for the woman doubled when she saw the look Felicite shot Draco.  
  
So when Felicite did finally reach out to shake someone's hand, it only made sense that that somebody was Draco. "'Ello," she said, flashing brilliant white teeth. "I am Felicite Delacour-Audric. You must be Draco Malfoy! And you are 'is.fiancée? Kaitlyn Lowell?" Felicite gave Kate a check over.  
  
Kate could only manage a tight smile. "Delacour?" Draco asked. "I knew a Fleur Delacour once.A pretty thing, she was."  
  
Felicite smiled and took Draco's hand. "Ah, yes. My dearest cousin Fleur. But let's not zalk about 'er. What about you, 'andsome?"  
  
Sighing, Kate shouldered her bag and followed her enchanted fiancé into Lumière et Amour. As Felicite and Draco talked animatedly her thoughts drifted to Ron. He had given her a ring before she had left-a small opal set in gold. It had been his grandmother's, he told Kate, and he had convinced his father to give it to him.  
  
***  
  
Suddenly Sugar stopped talking. She held up her hand, signaling Ana to be silent, and crept over to the doorway of Ana's room. The faerie peaked her tiny head around the corner, gasping when she saw whatever it was that had disturbed her. With agility and speed surprising for someone so very little, Sugar shot back to Ana's side.  
  
"Keep very, very, very quiet Ana. We have visitors. Unwanted ones." Sugar motioned Ana under Liza's small cot. Ana didn't have time to ask who the unwelcome visitors were, for, just as she disappeared under the bed a pair of boot clad feet appeared in the doorway to her bedroom.  
  
"I don't see anyone in here," a voice-a man's-said.  
  
"Our lord w-will be v-very mad if we have missed the fourth child," another voice added.  
  
"Yes, Lucius," the first voice continued. "You were out with her all day. Are you sure she came straight back here?"  
  
"Positive." Ana recognized the voice of her might-be-grandfather. No doubt his cronies were also Death Eaters. "I saw her back to the perimeter of the cabins."  
  
"Might she have l-left?" The second voice asked. Ana found his consistent stutter to be quite annoying.  
  
"Well, if she did, it would only be because you two boneheads tore the cabin up. If I were a little girl I'd be frightened of the mess you two caused. I trust that you placed the first two children in their proper homes?"  
  
"Yes Lucius," the men said together.  
  
"Oh, bloody hell!" Mr. Malfoy said after a few more minutes of tromping around the cabin. Ana thought them to be incredibly stupid to not have looked under the bed yet. "This is a waste of our time. Pegatha Davies is already suspicious. We might as well clear out for the night."  
  
"But, L-Lucius! The Dark Lord-he'll b-be furious!"  
  
"Of course he will Wormtail! Which is why we will be forced to take up on Pegatha's offer to house us for the night."  
  
"Very well, L-Lucius," the first man said.  
  
"Lucius, why do you call Mrs. Davies by her first name? I thought that-"  
  
"Paulson," the second, stuttering man--Wormtail--whispered. "K-Keep quiet."  
  
But the question had already reached Mr. Malfoy's ears. "Why? Because she was Kaitlyn Lowell's sister. I began to call her by her first name when I first met her and just because her sisters were complete fools was no reason to stop. Not that I'm fond of anyone with Lowell blood running through their veins."  
  
"Who was Kaitlyn Lowell?" the man called Paulson asked.  
  
The silence that followed Paulson's question was charged with nerves. Finally, after the silence had reached the point where the air was crackling with an unseen electricity, Lucius Malfoy answered.  
  
"Kaitlyn Lowell was my son's fiancée. All you need to know is that she broke his heart and destroyed him. Draco was never the same after the Lowell girl was finished with him." Mr. Malfoy trailed off and Ana could feel the hate for her mother radiating off him. Then, without warning, Mr. Malfoy stormed out of the small cabin, slamming the door after him.  
  
"N-Now look what y-you did!" Wormtail hissed. "C-Come on. Let's g-get up to the m-manor." And, with great speed, both men cleared out of the cabin.  
  
After waiting for a long period of time-to make sure that the Death Eaters did not return-Sugar turned to Ana. "Come on, Ana. We have to make a break for the woods. We can't be here when those goons decide to come back."  
  
Ana suppressed the many questions she had swirling around in her mind and nodded. She crawled carefully our from under the small cot and grabbed Sugar. The faerie was slipped into Ana's apron pocket and she remained quiet as Ana hoisted herself up onto the small windowsill high above the cot. The window was very small, but Ana was skinny enough to barely squeeze through.  
  
The fall to the grassy ground was farther than Ana expected, and when she landed a nasty jolt ran up through her bones. Silently the young girl padded into the woods bordering the cabins. There was no trail to follow and she had to beat bushes and branches out of the way. Once or twice Sugar gave a loud sigh, but then she would become quiet again. Finally, when the sky was just beginning to grow light, and Ana was near dead on her feet she stumbled into a small mossy clearing. Long ago had she begun to feel that she would drop from exhaustion and when Sugar yelled for her to stop she was all too glad to oblige.  
  
"Ana, you've done a good job. Now you see that ring of flowers over there, in the middle of the clearing?" Ana nodded. "Now, you just go to sleep in there. Don't worry-I have enough magic to summon up a blanket and pillow."  
  
"But what if the Death-"  
  
"Ana," Sugar said, and she smiled a little, "as long as you are in that circle of flowers, and I am with you, nothing in this world could harm you."  
  
Somehow Ana believed her. With a tired yawn she stumbled over to the circle of flowers. As she had promised, Sugar waved her small hands and a warm blanket and soft pillow appeared. Nothing in the world had ever felt as good as when she laid down on the soft moss and snuggled up under the blanket.  
  
Ana fell asleep almost instantly; awaiting what dreams may come.  
  
A/N: Feel free to vote for who you want Ana's dad to be: Draco or Ron! And I'll try to post the next chapter more quickly. 


	8. Chapter Eight: Josephine's Baby

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
A/N: As usual I'll mention my wonderful beta, Dracanna Malfoy. And remember! You can vote (by review) who you want to be Ana's father: Ron Weasley or Draco Malfoy.  
  
  
  
  
  
Ana awoke late the next day. The morning larks and songbirds had long ago flown off in pursuit of food and the sky was a glorious shade of light blue. The light that shone on her was golden and for a few moments Ana just basked in the warm rays of sun. It was the first day in as long as she could remember that she was allowed to sleep in. It was marvelous how such a simple thing as waking up late in the afternoon could brighten one's day.  
  
With a catlike stretch Ana sat up and took in the surroundings of the clearing that she had been too tired to notice earlier that dawn. The branches of the trees surrounding the clearing provided enough shelter and shade so that rain would not get through and one could get cool, but enough sunlight streamed through the branches that the clearing always had a warm glow about it.  
  
With a little cry of delight Ana realized that many of the trees bordering the clearing were ones bearing fruit. Various bushes of berries grew alongside a small pond at the south side of the clearing. The clearing- practically a meadow-seemed to be a paradise to Ana.  
  
It wasn't until she had stood and folded her blanket that Ana realized that she was alone. For one frightening moment Ana thought that she had been abandoned. It took her a few seconds to remember the way Sugar had treated her when they had first met and how highly the small sprite spoke of her mother. Sugar was probably just out foraging.  
  
Sighing, Ana walked carefully over to the pond. The water was impossibly clear and, when Ana dipped her hand into it, she found the water to be surprisingly warm. After contemplating whether the water could be contaminated Ana shrugged and shed her maid's uniform. She slipped into the pond in only her knickers and began to make herself clean.  
  
After deeming herself clean enough to face any other living being she might encounter Ana climbed out of the water and sunbathed in the middle of the circle of flowers. That was how Sugar found her when she returned an hour later. By then Ana was feeling somewhat drowsy, but all that evaporated when she saw her small guide.  
  
"So," she asked, sitting up, "what's happening?"  
  
Sugar sighed. "I went back to Davies Manor and I listened in on a few conversations. Though I don't know exactly where they are, I do know that Liza and Rey have been placed in two Death Eater homes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Sugar climbed up onto Ana's shoe and gave a large shrug. "I don't know exactly why, but I do have a few theories. But more of this later. I want to get to the coast by the time the sun rises tomorrow morning and before we can begin to set off in that direction I need to finish telling you your mother's tale. Does that sound like a smart plan?"  
  
Ana nodded. "But where will we get food?" she asked. Sugar bit her lip.  
  
"I hadn't thought of that," she admitted. "We can't eat the food in this clearing-it's enchanted fruit and has a few nasty side effects.But we might be able to rustle something up once we get on the move. Now can we get on with the story?"  
  
Ana nodded again, ignoring her rumbling stomach. Finally.She'd know the whole story of her mother. Settling back in the ring of flowers Ana closed her eyes and listened to nothing but Sugar's comforting voice.  
  
***  
  
Kate was having an utterly miserable time in Lumière et Amour, and it was all thanks to that bloody Felicite Delacour-Audric. The woman had taken her job of guarding Draco very seriously. She had attached herself to Draco and- to Kate's knowledge-she had only let him out of her sight when he went to the bathroom and took a shower. Draco wasn't doing much to resist her charms, though. The young man seemed quite enchanted by the half-veela's beauty and grace.  
  
Once, though, Kate had sought out Chevalier Audric. The curiosity of how Felicite Delacour-Audric could be related to her childhood friend was beyond her. Chevalier had only laughed and said, "Ah, Kate-you shall find out soon enough my connection to Felicite."  
  
That had been three days ago. It had been thirteen days since Draco and she had arrived in France and her stay in Lumière et Amour was almost over. Draco and Kate were leaving early tomorrow morning and they would be back at L'enfer-Draco's summer manor-by the following Sunday. Kate expected that late Sunday evening would be when Ron came around to tell her where and when they would elope.  
  
Both Ron and Kate had agreed that telling their whole families of their engagement would be a terrible mistake. Only Harry Potter, Hermione Granger (who would be wed two days after Ron and Kate) Miranda, Josephine, and Peggy would be present, as witnesses. Kate often had strange dreams about her wedding day-Ron turning into Draco, her dress falling off, the bouquet turning into a bloody knife, and so on and so forth.  
  
Once or twice she had even awoken Draco-who slept in the next room. He'd shake her awake and ask what was wrong. She'd mutter something about monsters and then he'd nod and leave. But now was not the time to think about the wedding jitters. Kate looked in her large, Hollywood-movie star makeup mirror, disdain written on her every feature.  
  
Draco was taking her out to a fancy French restaurant that evening-along with Felicite-to celebrate the trip. Kate had hoped that, for once, she could outshine every woman in the room and hold her fiancé's attention for one moment. She had wanted Draco to look at her the way he used to look at Pansy Parkinson and the way he looked at Felicite.  
  
Like they were his world.  
  
Like they were his life.  
  
Like they mattered.  
  
She had hoped so many things that morning when she had first heard of Draco's plans. Sadly, all of her wishes and aspirations had been thrown to the wind when she saw the dress Felicite had picked out. The pretty young guard had modeled the dress for Kate and Draco a few moments after Draco had announced that he was treating them both to dinner.  
  
It was black, slinky, and almost completely see-through. Only the area where her bra and panties were was covered by black sequined material.  
  
"Draco informed me last night of our plans," she has said in her heavy French accent. "Of course, 'e 'elped me select my dress."  
  
Draco-for the first time on the trip-glared at Felicite. Turning to Kate her had said, "I only wanted to run it by, her, Kate. I mean, to ask if there were any good places to eat."  
  
Kate had shrugged the whole thing off, laughing and saying about how he didn't have to ask her about everything, but really, deep down inside, it burned that that French tart of a veela had known about the plans before her. And Draco knew that. He was getting to know her too well.  
  
Kate sighed and looked up at her grand Victorian era clock, which read a quarter to seven. Then she looked down at the plain white slip she was wearing. She had agreed to meet Draco at L'Voom-the in vogue restaurant in Lumière et Amour-in fifteen minutes. Even if she had some way to get to a swanky dress shop she'd still have to style her hair, apply her makeup, and choose out complimenting accessories. This was the second of the three hitches in Kate's visit to Lumière et Amour.  
  
"I am doomed!" Kate moaned, resting her forehead down on her white makeup counter.  
  
"Ah, but zat is where you are wrong, Ms. Lowell."  
  
Kate froze. It couldn't be.She had gone ahead with Draco to watch over him- but it was. "Felicite?" she asked in a tiny voice.  
  
The veela woman smiled. "In ze flesh, as one might say," she murmured.  
  
"But what about-"  
  
"Ah, don't worry about your fiancé. 'E is being guarded by my 'usband." Felicite broke into the first genuine smile at the look on Kate's face. "Zat is 'ow I am related 'oo Chevalier. I am 'is wife."  
  
"But how come no one told us?" Kate asked.  
  
"Because no one can be trusted with ze secret." Felicite's smile evaporated as she continued. "You see, I am not at all as rich as I make myself out 'oo be. The Delacours-zey are no longer high class. We lost all our money when You-Know-Who murdered my father and uncle. And you know zat ze 'igh- class society of France is not receptive to ze poor, especially ones 'o were once rich, like us. Chevalier and I.We 'ad been engaged at ze time, but 'is mother and father wished for 'im to marry a better woman."  
  
"But you two were already in love," Kate said, finishing the story.  
  
"Yes," Felicite said, smiling softly. "We were already in love. And so we eloped and 'ave kept it a secret all zis time." There was a long silence in which Felicite sat down on Kate's bed. "I will not lie and tell you zat zis 'as been easy. We 'ave only found ze time 'oo make love four times in almost nine months!" Tears of utter frustration filled Felicite's eyes, but she was soon to wipe them away. "But enough about me. I am 'ere 'oo focus on your makeup.Oh, dear.Only some 'andy spells can get you fixed up enough 'oo get into L'Voom. Stand up."  
  
Kate did as she was told. Felicite stood and began to circle her like a hungry animal. "Let's see." the veela woman muttered. "You 'ave a good figure. Not a lot of fat on your bones, but still, you 'ave some shape. And your 'air. It is a lovely color, and it complements your eyes well. But as for ze way you 'old yourself-no wonder you look a mess most of ze time!" Felicite drew her wand from some hidden fold of her dresses sleeves.  
  
She took it and jabbed Kate firmly in the back. "Stand up straight-No, not like zat! You look as stiff and a board! Just 'old your shoulder 'igh and tilt you 'ead back so your chin juts out-Yes, like zat! Now, if you zink you can remember zat, we can move onto ze next step in our transformation!" Felicite shoved Kate into the chair again. "First we shall apply makeup. 'Ere, put some of zis on-and some of zat too!"  
  
Kate smiled into the mirror. Maybe this night wasn't going to the dogs after all.  
  
***  
  
Draco was growing mighty impatient, and with a man who had a fuse as short as his, that was never a good thing. He had taken to sneering at any passing by waiters and was subconsciously destroying the rose that Felicite had slipped in his lapel. As if Kate being late wasn't bad enough, Felicite had gone off to retrieve her and left Chevalier in her place. The young Frenchmen had stopped humming merrily soon after Draco had sent him a withering glare.  
  
"So," Chevalier had said after a while, obviously trying to find a conversation starter, "when is ze date of your wedding 'oo Kate?"  
  
Draco shrugged. "Don't know. You'll likely be invited, though."  
  
Chevalier shrugged. "I 'ope so. Kate and I went 'oo school together. We weren't in ze same year-I'm two years older zan 'er, but we were always close friends. Lisle-'e was in my year 'oo. Ze three of us-along with Peggy and Miranda-made quite a team. We were always." But Chevalier trailed off mid-sentence. "Fellie," he murmured, "you 'ave returned to us."  
  
Draco looked up to see Felicite standing over them, smiling strangely at Chevalier. "Yes, Chev-and I brought someone with me." A smile crept onto Felicite's lips. "Gentlemen, may I present, with great pleasure, ze one, ze only.Ms. Kaitlyn Lowell!"  
  
She stepped away from the table booth-like table and Chevalier gasped. Draco would have gasped too, but he couldn't seem to find the air to breathe in. When he had been little his nursemaid had read him the story of Cinderella. Draco would have assessed Kate's makeover as a simple Cinderella fairy tale, but he was most certain that Cinderella had never looked as though she had swallowed the moon. Kate was positively glowing, whether through a simple charm or a new self-beauty that radiated from deep within.  
  
Her hair-which Draco had always thought of as plain reddish-brown, now fell in soft mahogany curls down her back. She had little makeup on, but what little she had applied did the trick. A little shimmer power dusted lightly on her cheeks and over her eyes and pale pink rouge spread on her lips.And then there was the dress.  
  
Kate was dressed in a deep blue strapless dress that shimmered whenever she moved. The neckline of the dress was low and daring and the pleated skirt fell nicely around Kate's legs. The rich blue of the dress brought out the color in Kate's eyes.  
  
"Good evening, Draco," Kate purred, and even her voice was entrancing. Felicite must have given Kate lessons. "Would you care to dance?" Draco nodded and stood, taking Kate's arm. That was the third, final, and biggest of the mistakes Kate made in Lumière et Amour. Asking Draco to dance determined the fate of millions to come, for maybe, if the two had not fallen in love out on the dance floor, dancing to some slow French tune, none of what became would have become.  
  
***  
  
"Do you know what it means?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Do you know what it means? Lumière et Amour?"  
  
Draco wrapped his arms around Kate's waist and buried his pointed nose in her hair. "No," he murmured. "Feel free to tell me, though." He smiled and waited for an answer.  
  
"It means Lights and Love. What could be a better name for a place like this?" Kate gestured to the town of Lumière et Amour. After they had finished dancing, Draco and Kate had sat down for dinner. Felicite-sensing the aura of love-had pulled Chevalier over to a nearby table.  
  
For an uncomfortable moment Kate and Draco said nothing. It had suddenly struck Draco that his entire relationship with Kate had been based on quick moments. He realized that at the exact same time he realized that he wanted to spend more than moments with Kate; he wanted to spend a lifetime with her. There would be hard times in the relationship, of that he was sure.And everything seemed to be going very fast. How could someone fall in love so quickly?  
  
'But perhaps,' Draco thought to himself, watching Kate take a sip of the best champagne that L'Voom had, 'I've been in love with her since that day at the lake. And besides, good things take time, but great things.Ah, great things happen all at once!'  
  
Dinner had ended hours ago, though, and Kate had dragged Draco up to the top of their hotel. It was a cool night and Draco had draped his designer coat over Kate's shivering shoulders. The view they had was incredible. All over the town bright lights flickered. In the darkness, looking down upon Lumière et Amour, it seemed as though they were in heaven, watching the night sky stars.  
  
"See," Kate continued, "there are the lights," she gestured again to Lumière et Amour, "and there is love." Then she leaned in and kissed Draco soundly on the lips.  
  
The kiss was searing.  
  
The kiss was sweet.  
  
But most of all, the kiss was love.  
  
When Kate broke away, there were no words said between the two lovers. There were no words that could be said to possibly sum up what they were feeling right then.  
  
***  
  
The arrival back at Salazar Harbor was incredibly awkward for Kate. The moment they stepped off the ship and were greeted by their parents, the two affianced teenagers transformed back into their normal selves. No one except Mrs. Lowell and Josephine saw the secretive looks that Draco sent Kate or the bashful ones Kate sent Draco. Even then, only Josephine guess what was really going on. But, wisely, she decided to hold all her questions in until that night. She had a secret of her own, as well.One that she trusted only Kate with.  
  
Kate and Draco rode in separate carriages back to L'enfer. Kate made sure that only Miranda and Peggy were in her carriage, as she had to go farther into town and locate Ron. She still didn't know what to tell him. Coming strait out and saying that she had "accidentally" fallen in love with his archenemy wouldn't exactly go over well.  
  
"You two wait here," Kate said once the carriage pulled to a stop in front of a store three blocks from Ron's apartment. "I'll be back within the hour." Ignoring the lengthy groans from her sisters, Kate slipped into the bustling crowd and made her way to Ron's.  
  
***  
  
Harry and Hermione had been married just a little bit past the day Kate left to go sailing with Draco. Kate remembered vividly Draco throwing the newspaper announcing the happy event into the trash bin. She knew that, a little before they were married, Ron had moved out. She hadn't seen his new flat but Ron had said not to expect much.  
  
After a brisk fifteen-minute walk Kate found what she believed to be Ron's residence. Sure enough, just as she was walking towards the building, a tall, gangly red head stepped out. When his amber eyes fell on Kate he broke into a grin.  
  
"Kate!" Ron cried, running towards his 'girlfriend'. "You're back two days earlier than I expected!"  
  
Kate nodded. "It was good sailing and I pushed for it," she said.  
  
Ron's grin widened. "Can't wait to run off, is it?"  
  
Kate bit her lip. "Ron," she began, choosing each word carefully, "I think we should stay here."  
  
Ron's face fell. "I knew it."  
  
Though it was a simple statement Kate could hear the accusation dripping from Ron's every word: "You fell in love with Malfoy!" She should have known better than to try and fool him. He already knew her secret.  
  
"I knew that leaving for so long with him would cause this. You've fallen in love, haven't you?" He paused. "Don't answer that, Kate. I know that answer but I never, ever want to hear it."  
  
A few short months ago Kate would have bowed her head in shame. But the shy, awkward Kate was gone. It took little effort for Kate to hold Ron's angry gaze. "Ron, I still love you, very deeply, and I understand if you want to cut things off. But I do need time to sort things out. I want to see you, still, but I won't lie. If you don't want to hear me say it that's fine."  
  
Ron looked rather shocked at her firm response. "You've changed, too."  
  
Kate nodded. She had on a trendy but simple Parisian robe that Felicite had given her, among other things. It was pale blue with puffy sleeves and a matching sash tied around the waist. Such robes were all the rage in France.  
  
"I just got more.assertive," she murmured.  
  
"Well, I like the change. And I still love you too. But I can tell you one thing," Ron said. "I'll win your heart back from Malfoy."  
  
Little did Kate know that those words signaled the beginning of the end.  
  
***  
  
It was late, late, late at night and Kate was almost asleep when a light knock at her bedroom door jolted her awake. "Who's there?" she called out, fumbling for her wand in the darkness. "Is that you, Draco?"  
  
"No," a meek voice replied. "It's Josie."  
  
Kate found her wand. "Lumos!" she hissed. Indeed it was her elder sister, shivering in a thin green bathrobe.  
  
"Kate, we need to talk." Josephine didn't let her sister reply before she added, "I know that you love Draco. But I think I'm the only one."  
  
"Ron knows," Kate said, pulling her covers back and padding the space beside her. Josephine smiled gratefully and slid in beside her baby sister. "He took it well enough. Draco doesn't know about Ron, though."  
  
Josephine's smile faltered. "That's why I'm here," she said, her eyes boring into Kate's. "Well, sort of, that is. " Then her gaze dropped to her hands, which were fidgeting in her lap. It suddenly occurred to Kate that Josephine was acting very strangely. In all her seventeen years she had never seen brave, bold, conservative Josephine fidget.  
  
"Josie?" Kate asked. "Something's wrong, isn't it? Don't worry, Josie. I won't tell mum."  
  
Josephine looked up at her younger sister for a moment before bursting into tears. "She'll know!" she sobbed, her whole body shaking. "She'll know! Oh, Merlin, she'll find out and then I'll be dead! Robert will kill me when he finds that I've been unfaithful!"  
  
Kate didn't know what to do. Though she had only just found her backbone Josephine had always had one. She never ran away from her problems, never showed fear, and she never, ever cried. Something was wrong.  
  
Terribly wrong.  
  
And then Josephine had grabbed her wand, pointed it at her belly, and whispered, "Abdo gravida!"  
  
Kate gasped and put her hand to her mouth. She knew it was rude to stare, but how could she not? Josephine was pregnant.  
  
Very pregnant.  
  
"I was three and a half months along when I you left. That was two months ago. I wouldn't normally be so big.But Kate, I'm going to have twins!"  
  
***  
  
"Wait," Ana cried, jumping up and interrupting the faerie's tale. "Tinkerbell told me that there was only one child-Amber Lyn."  
  
Sugar smirked. "Well, then, it a good thing that I came along, isn't it? Believe me, Josephine Theresa Lowell gave birth to twins. What happened to the other child, then? That comes later in the story, so be a good girl and don't interrupt me again."  
  
***  
  
"Twins?" Kate asked, perhaps a little too loudly. "You're going to have twins?"  
  
Josephine frowned and pulled the thick bed cover over her swollen stomach. "Yes, I'm pregnant with two babies, a boy and a girl. You don't have to look at me like I'm a freak, though."  
  
Kate quickly shut her open mouth and sat back on her knees. "Does Oliver know?" she asked. "I am assuming that-since you've decided to tell me this in the dead of night-that your betrothed is not the father-to-be?"  
  
Josephine wrinkled her nose and shook her head vigorously. "Of course not. Oliver is the father, and no, he doesn't know. I can't tell him. It's too risky. I think mother suspects me, so she told Amelia and Sophia to trail me around. I haven't gotten to see him in ages. He thinks I've broken up with him, I'm sure." Josephine stopped crying. "Tell me, Kate, what should I do? I've been going crazy here, trying to get out to see Oliver, or trying to get a hold of you."  
  
"Me?" Kate asked. "Why me? I always thought that you and Marlene were close."  
  
Josephine sighed sadly. "Marlene and I have drifted apart. She's engaged too, you know, to an extremely wealthy man. He buys her whatever she wants, as long as she gives him a few sons. Now a days that's all she cares about.If I told Marlene she'd turn me over to mother."  
  
"I still don't see why you need me, Josie, or why you're even telling me. It seems pretty dangerous to tell anyone about the twins," Kate said,.  
  
"Oh, but Kate," Josephine replied, "you can help me more than you'll ever know. Isn't Ron's older brother married to a midwife?"  
  
Kate nodded. "Yeah. Fred's married to a midwife, but she's muggle."  
  
Josephine smiled for the first time that night. "All the better. She won't be as easy to find.Kate, I needed someone who could move about Salazar Harbor and have mother to cover for them. And I needed someone who I knew wouldn't tell." There was a pause. "Will you help me Kate? If you say no then I don't know how I'll get through this all."  
  
Kate smiled, then hugged her sister. "Of course, Josie. How could I say no?"  
  
Josephine seemed surprised at the sudden display of affection, but she quickly returned the hug. With a long yawn she rolled out of Kate's bed. "I'll see you in the morning. Let's meet in the rose garden tomorrow at sundown. That's when Amelia and Sophie go off to whatever ball they've been invited to. Can I count on you to be there?"  
  
"Of course you can Josephine."  
  
Kate's sleep that night was peaceful. There were no wedding nightmares or futuristic, prophetic dreams. However, just as she fell asleep, she got a strange feeling all over. Everything seemed so peaceful, so quiet, just like before a storm, and Kate couldn't help but feel there was a sort of storm heading her way, one that would destroy everything.  
  
She didn't know how right she was.  
  
***  
  
The following days were surprisingly calm and peaceful. Besides balancing her time wisely between her two lovers and helping Josephine with preparations for the babies, Kate had not much to do. Her wedding date was set for sometime in the coming year and so far she had not had to do much planning for it.  
  
The day after she had returned home Kate had gone in search of Fred Weasley's wife, Orfay. She took much caution to conceal her true identity and had worn a black wig. She had changed the story around a bit, telling Orfay that Josephine was her best friend and that the father had left her when finding out about the children. Orfay had sympathized with Josephine and had sworn herself to secrecy. Every week Kate asked Draco to cause a distraction so she could sneak Josephine out, though she told him that she just wanted to go and shop around.  
  
Things went smoothly-too smoothly in fact. Kate-who had masterminded everything to do with Josephine's pregnancy-had taken such care in planning all the big things that she had overlooked some of the small things. For instance, it had never occurred to her that Fred Weasley sometimes stopped in to see his wife. Even if it had, she never would have guessed that Oliver Wood and Lee Jordan sometimes tagged along. Luckily, none of that happened until one frigid cold day in early December. Josephine was only two weeks away from her due date and concealing her gigantic belly was getting harder and harder.  
  
Orfay-who was still under the impression that Kate's name was Harlene and Josephine's name was Pamela-had taken Josephine into her examining room half-an-hour earlier. Kate was growing busy reading a muggle magazine-Baby World-when the door to the small building swung open and there was the sound of unbridled laughter. The blood in Kate's veins froze.  
  
This wasn't happening.  
  
This couldn't be happening.  
  
But, oh gods, it was happening.  
  
Standing in front of her not only was the husband of the midwife she had been lying to-not to mention the brother of her boyfriend-but the father of her sister's child and their loudmouth of a friend. Oh, things couldn't get any worse. But then the door swung open again and Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Cho followed them in. Kate wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Not only had she not 'made up' with Hermione or Harry, she didn't want to answer Ron's questions of why she was in a midwife's office or even see Oliver at all.  
  
"Orfay!" Fred raoared, clapping Lee and Harry on the back. "Orfay! Come out here and meet your new patients!"  
  
There was a clatter from behind the closed door and Orfay stuck her head out. "Fred, darling, I already have a patient in here! I'll see whoever you want me to see in a few minutes! Now please, I'm busy-Oh! Harry! Hermione! Lee! And if it isn't Cho! Are you all expecting?"  
  
There were bashful smiles and prideful nods from the four parents-to-bes. Orfay gave a kind smile. "Well, I will try and hurry up then. In fact, Pamela, you're free to leave."  
  
Kate, who saw the situation as one where only a lose-lose, checkmate conclusion was possible, thought fast. Just as Josephine stepped out of the room, she jumped to her feet and cried, "BOMB! Duck for cover!" at the top of her lungs. In the pandemonium that followed she dashed over to Josephine and all but yanked her towards the door. Yes, there would be some explaining to do next week, but everything had to be kept a secret. Unfortunately, Kate was so caught up in escaping that she didn't notice Harry lying on the ground, his body blocking Hermione's. With a screech like a banshee Kate fell to the ground, Josephine following shortly after her.  
  
Before she knew it, Kate was being hauled to her feet, along with Josephine. Her black wig had fallen off, as had Josephine's fiery red one, and Orfay was staring at the two of them in shock. "Harlene? Pamela?" she asked, looking just the slightest bit fearful.  
  
"Kate? Josephine?" Ron asked, a shocked look on his face.  
  
"Ron?" Fred asked coyly. "You and Ms. Lowell haven't been fooling around, have you?"  
  
"No!" Ron snapped, blushing bright red.  
  
"Besides, Fred, it's Josie who's pregnant," Cho added.  
  
Orfay still looked confused. "Josie and Kate?" she asked. "But they told me they were Pamela and Harlene. Two best friends-"  
  
"Two sisters," Hermione corrected.  
  
"Sisters? You two are sisters?" Orfay-who had always been a virtuous woman- looked betrayed. "I suppose all that rubbish about the father running off with a stripper was naught but lies?"  
  
"Harlene and Pamela? Best friends? A stripper? What in the devil's name possessed you to tell such lies to my wife?"  
  
By now Josephine was sobbing into Kate's robe. "They'll tell her," she moaned. "And then she'll take away my babies. Oh, Kate, please-do something!"  
  
Now Orfay looked disturbed. Hermione-who was very much the motherly type- helped Kate moved Josephine to the waiting-room couch, where they lay her down. "She'll not find out," Kate murmured. "We've come too far and lied to much for me to let her find out. And you've forgotten whose company we're in. Ron won't tell, and neither will Oliver. And the others-if they so dare as to go to her, Josie, then I'll stop every last one of them."  
  
There was a stunned silence. Never had any of them heard meek, spoiled Kate sound so spoiled and determined. Finally Harry worked up the courage to ask, "What' s going on?"  
  
Josephine and Kate looked up, as though they were just remembering that everyone else was there. "Josie's pregnant," Kate said.  
  
"That much is eveident," Lee muttered.  
  
"Yeah. Why haven't you told me this, Kate? I could've gotten you a great discount!" Ron said, frowning.  
  
"Because," Kate said, standing and glaring at everyone present, "no one save Josie, me, and those present in this room know about the twins. And it has to remain this way."  
  
"Why?" Oliver asked, speaking for the first time.  
  
"Because," a cold voice answered, "zey were afraid zat I would find out." The door opened and shut one last time. Francine Lowell, accompanied by Amelia and Sophia, stood before the small gathering, all dressed in expensive fur cloaks. Francine was brandishing a walking cane, which she poked Oliver with. "So, you're ze little gutter snipe zat got my daughter pregnant, are you?" She made disapproving noises. "Such a shame zat zese babies will 'ave spoiled, common, muggle-loving blood in zeir veins. I shant ever tell zem what a disgrace zeir father is zough.Doubftul zat I'll ever tell zem what a whore zeir mother was, either." Francine dropped her cane from Oliver and gave Josephine a long, cold stare. "After all," she murmured, "zey will never meet 'er."  
  
Josephine's sobbed echoed throughout the room. "Kate! Get your sister up! We shall go and 'ave ze babies removed by a specialist. Zen we will either 'ave one of your sisters raise zem in 'er place or give zem up for adoption. I'll deal with zat problem after I deal with ze Davies. No doubt zat zey will break ze engagement now." Francine paused when her daughter did not move. "You 'eard me, Kate! Get moving!" When Kate did not move again Francine struck out with the hard end of her cane, striking her daughter in the stomach. "You will pay for your disobedience later, Kaitlyn," she hissed before snapped her gloved fingers and watching Amelia grab Josephine shove her towards the door.  
  
"You can't do this!" Oliver cried, finally coming to life. "Those are my babies, not yours! I swear, you old shrew, if you so much as lay a hand on my girl again, I'll curse you from here to Hogwarts!" He paused a moment to catch his breath. "And I'll report you to the Ministry of Magic for hitting your daughter! That's just sick!"  
  
Francine's eyes were strangely cold and free of emotion. She raised her cane again, over Kate's unprotected head. "I'll see you all 'anged before my daughters go to ze dogs!" she cried, striking Kate on the head and turning towards the door, leaving Kate and Oliver to chase after her.  
  
"What will happen to them?" Hermione asked in a small voice. A blizzard had started up so no one could see five feet out with window.  
  
"What will happen to any of us?" Harry replied.  
  
  
  
A/N: This chapter ends still in the tale of Kaitlyn Lowell. It'll pick up in her time period as well. As always, reviews are welcome. And feel free to vote on who Ana's father should be: Ron or Draco! Thanks! 


	9. Chapter Nine: The Plan

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies, teachers, associates and the situations this story is based on belongs to J.K. Rowling, various publishers such as Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Books as well as Warner Bros. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I do not own Harry Potter and co. I do lay claim to the made up characters in this book such as Ana, Kate, Liza, Rey, and Tinkerbell. I also own the plot.  
  
  
  
Kate had not been allowed to accompany her mother, Sophia, and Josephine to 'The Magical Institute of Birth', or MIB. She and Amelia returned to L'enfer to tell everyone that Josephine was feeling ill and had been taken to a hospital. Not to worry, though. She should be back by midnight.  
  
***  
  
Everyone in L'enfer went to sleep peacefully. Everyone save Kate. She waited up in the parlor of the entrance hall all night. Finally, early the following morning, when Kate was half-asleep, the front door opened quietly and Josephine, along with Francine, walked in. Kate's heart broke when she saw her older sister. Josephine looked terrible. Her eyes were red a puffy from the tears she had no doubt shed while saying goodbye to her babies-for there were no infants present-and she seemed exhausted. When Josephine saw Kate she turned away, her head dropped in shame.  
  
"Ah, Kaitlyn," Francine said, sweeping over to her daughter, "you waited up. I 'ad 'oped you would." She turned to Josephine. "Stop your sniveling! You're getting only what you deserve!" Then she glanced over at Kate. "Quick, Kaitlyn-get Josephine upstairs! Before anyone wakes up!"  
  
"What will you tell Robert Davies?" Kate asked, rushing to her elder sister's aid.  
  
"Ze truth! What else? Messing with zese people can be very dangerous. But to all ze others.We shall tell zem zat poor, poor Josephine," Francine smiled coldly, "passed away. Really she will be in a Swedish convent for women in 'er position."  
  
"And what is her position?"  
  
Francine sneered and poked a zombie-like Josephine. "She is a whore, a disgrace to ze Lowell name!" She shook her head and continued explaining her plot. "Your sister Peggy will marry Robert-if ze Davies still want 'oo be connected-and we will pretend zat Robert and Peggy 'ave been 'aving a torrid affair behind our backs. Ze child shall be zeir love child."  
  
Kate stopped short. "Child? I thought.I thought that it was twins."  
  
Josephine stopped walking up the stairs then and fell to the ground, sobs racking her whole body. "My babies.They took away my babies!" she moaned, rolling about on the floor.  
  
Francine looked wildly around the hallway. "Damn it, Kate! Shut 'er up! Your room is down ze 'all! Take 'er zer!"  
  
Kate-after shooting a menacing look at her mother-did as she was told. Somehow she was able to get her sister, lost in her grief, down the hallway. Once she was safely in the confines of her suite she made sure that Josephine was put in her own bed. After ringing a house elf for a mug of steaming 'Ma's Best Cocoa' and getting Josephine to drink the contents, Kate felt halfway ready to ask Josephine the question that had been on her mind all night.  
  
"Josie?"  
  
"Yes Kate?"  
  
"If you don't mind me asking, where are the children?"  
  
Tears welled up in Josephine's blue eyes. "I don't know, Kate. I honestly don't know. Truth be told, I never saw their sweet little faces or even heard them cry. As soon as they were out of me doctors rushed them into another room." There was a long, eerie pause. "But.I heard a doctor say.as Sophia was bundling me up.that something had gone really wrong with the little boy. I asked Sophia to find out what then she got all nervous." Another pause. "Mother's got a tight hold on Sophia. When I'm gone, Kate, promise me that you'll keep her and Amelia away from my baby. And, Kate.Promise me you'll tell my baby who her real mummy is? I love Peggy dearly but I want my child to know my tale."  
  
Kate gave Josephine a tight smile. She couldn't bear to hear her sister talk like that. 'When I'm gone.'  
  
"Don't worry Josie. I'll find a way." she murmured, smoothing down her sister's blonde bangs.  
  
"Find a way to what?" Josephine asked in a sleepy voice. Kate sighed.  
  
"Find a way to get you out of this."  
  
***  
  
"Lucius! Lucius!" Francine's terrified cries woke half of L'enfer. The door to the Malfoy's grandest suite flew open and Lucius Malfoy came face to face with a very disheveled Francine Lowell. "Lucius," Francine gasped, clutching the man's bathrobe, "it's my Josie! She's sick! She will not answer me!"  
  
Mr. Malfoy turned to his wife, Narcissa, who was standing behind him. "Narcissa, owl the family doctor. Tell him it's urgent." Then he turned to Kate, who was hiding behind her mother. "Kate! Take your mother to her rooms! Tell her that your sister is being dealt with!"  
  
Kate inched towards her mother slowly. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was touch her mother, but what choice did she have? It was the late at night, the same day that Josephine had been brought home. She had been moved to her own bed early that morning where she had lay in a comatose state the whole day. Sophia and Amelia had been on constant guard while their mother had gone over to speak with the Davies. Kate had accompanied her mother on that trip, though she didn't know why until after Mr. Davies agreed on carrying out her mother's proposal.  
  
Robert, for one, had been furious. He yelled and bellowed at his father, but Kate got the impression that Mr. Davies was getting more out of this marriage than just Peggy for he had simply ignored his eldest son's protests. Soon after, Francine and Mr. Davies had hurried Kate down to a secret cellar of the Davies kitchen.  
  
"You were second-to-top of your class in Potions," Francine had murmured. "Brew us a potion that will make Josephine seem dead. I want it to be able to fool the doctor, the Malfoys, your sisters, the coroners, and everyone who attends the funeral." There had been a long pause. "If this is done right I'll forgive you for helping your sister."  
  
Much as she had wanted to rebel, Kate knew that it wouldn't help Josephine to make a faulty potion. With a deep sigh she had nodded and gotten to work. For five hours she had carefully gathered and prepared the ingredients. She had never made a potion quite so complex, but, for her sister's sake, she had better get it right. Once the small, hidden cabinet slid back and the family house-elf dropped down a bit of warm rye bread and a flask of butterbeer. Kate had only stopped crushing her scarab beetles only for a moment to eat and drink.  
  
Finally, at six that evening, Kate had emerged from the potion brewing room, with three small vials in her hand. Handing each to her mother she said, "The potions lasts only twenty-four hours per vial. That means that you have to complete the funeral and her death in three short days. This fourth one, though," Kate said, brandishing a last tiny bottle from her robes, "is an antidote. There are many poisons in this and if Josephine does not drink this soon after she wakes up from the third poison she will die." Kate gave her mother a disgusted look. "Surely you do not want your own daughter's blood on your hands?"  
  
Francine just smiled and held up one of the small vials, letting the enchanted lights shine through the clear lavender liquid. "I'm not zat bad 'oo you, am I?" she asked, winking at Kate and sliding the vials and bottle into her purse, where they would be safe. As she and Kate left the Davies house and returned to the Malfoy's, Kate let out a sigh of relief. If her mother had looked very closely at the bottle she would have noticed that it was more lavender than blue.  
  
She would have guessed that it was not an antidote.  
  
She would have guessed that her daughter was lying about the poisons and antidotes.  
  
But she hadn't!  
  
Kate smirked to herself in the fading sunlight as she watched her mother stare out the carriage window. Those long hours down in the cellar had given her time to think. She had a plan to get Josephine out of the country and safely in the U.S. She had a plan to get back the little boy baby that had been sick. She had a plan on how to get Oliver Wood out of the country too. But everything in her plan rested firmly on whether Josephine would get the potion in the bottle.  
  
And whether she could get help.  
  
***  
  
In the end there was nothing that could be done, or so all the doctors said. Josephine Lowell was just too sick. And at least she was in a 'better place'. Francine had broken down on Josephine's bed, clinging to her dead daughter's body until Mr. Malfoy and Dr. Feinstein-one of the ten doctors present-dragged he rout of the room. Amelia and Sophia followed their mother, their faces identical masks of worry and woe. Only Kate remained in the room with her 'dead' sister.  
  
She sat down in the chair by Josephine's bed, and though she knew that her sister was still alive, she felt as though she had lost Josephine forever. The way Josephine had looked when she had returned from the hospital where she had given birth-filled with uncontrollable despair-and then the comatose state she had been in had frightened Kate senseless.  
  
"I promised I'd get you out of this, Josie," Kate whispered, "and I always try and fulfill my promises."  
  
***  
  
Early the next evening as everyone prepared for the funeral-which was the next morning-there was a quiet knock on Kate's door. "Come in!" she called.  
  
The door swung open with a tiny creek and Kate found Peggy standing in her presence, pale as chalk and almost as emotionless as Josephine had been. There was no need to ask what was upsetting Peggy. Faze two of Francine's scheme was currently in motion.  
  
"So," Kate murmured. "Mother told you."  
  
Peggy nodded, and a little color returned to her cheeks. "You brewed the potions?"  
  
"Yes, I did," Kate said. Peggy was one of her closest sisters but she still couldn't be sure whom to trust and whom not to trust.  
  
"And Josie's still alive?"  
  
"Yes. I wouldn't let her die, and neither would mother." Kate put on an air of both unhappiness and casualness.  
  
"Do I really have to do what she'd asking me? Take Josie's baby and say that she's mine?"  
  
Kate nodded and strode over to her older sister. "I promised Josie that I'd make sure her baby was well taken care of. Please, Peggy. For Josie?"  
  
Peggy sneered a little. "You act as if she's dead!"  
  
"She might as well be. We'll never see her again after this is through." Kate gave Peggy a tight, tired smile. "I'll see you in the morning, though. I'm exhausted.I'm going to sleep soon."  
  
Peggy nodded, though, to Kate, she seemed to be in another world. "Yes.Goodnight." Peggy shut the door and the young woman heaved a sigh of apparent relief. "That was a close one," she turned to her large wardrobe. "You can come out now," Kate whispered, and, slowly, the door inched open and Ron stepped out.  
  
"What was that all about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. This was the first time the two had seen each other since the day Josephine's babies were discovered and the first time Ron had ever truly been inside L'enfer. "You said Josephine was alive!"  
  
"But she is, Ron!" Kate cried, stomping her foot. "It's all part of my mother's scheme to cover up the babies! She worked some sort of deal out with the Davies. The day after tomorrow Peggy will go into labor, or so it will appear. Mother will call in special doctors-namely Sophia and Roger Davies, transfigured to look much different. Then, precisely two hours, three minutes, and fifteen seconds later, the two will emerge holding Amber- Lynette, or, more accurately, the little girl Josephine gave birth to.  
  
"Of course everyone will be wondering how and why Peggy kept this all a big secret. And, of course, someone will ask who the father is. That's when Robert Davies will step forward, tell everyone that he's the father, and that he loves Peggy. The story will go that Robert knew nothing of the child because the two 'lovebirds' broke up seven months ago. The two will be wed shortly after and no one will ever know that poor, dead Josephine had twins."  
  
By the end of the tale Ron was pale and angry looking. "But what about Josephine? Where is she? And how did you get her to seem so dead?" He stopped speaking suddenly, a look of fear in his kind brown eyes. "And you said there was only a baby girl! What happened to the other child?"  
  
Kate took a deep breath and sat down at her desk. "I don't know, Ron. Josephine only told me that doctors said that the baby boy was sick or something to that effect. And mother is shipping her off to a convent in Sweden. It's for the daughters of high society that have children out of wedlock or disgrace the family name."  
  
Ron was quiet for a long time. Kate didn't know yet whether he was mad at her for keeping Josephine's secret. "But what do you want with me?" Ron asked. "Do you want me to tell Oliver what happened? I don't think that's a good idea. Oliver would do something crazy. He broke down and cried when he read Josephine's obit. Or the fake-"  
  
"Ron, I have a plan. Plan to get Josephine, Oliver, and the baby boy into America. But if it's going to work, I need some help."  
  
"Help from who?" Ron asked.  
  
"From you, Harry, Hermione, Cho, Lee, and a few others that you don't know."  
  
"Can I help?"  
  
Ron and Kate whirled in the direction of Kate's bed. Ron jumped back in surprise. Just inches from his feet was the head of Miranda Lowell. "Merlin's beard!" Ron hissed. "Who's this? Can she be trusted?" He paused for a moment and brought his wand out of a pocket. "Should I stun her?"  
  
Miranda gave a yelp of fright as Ron advanced towards her, scurrying back under the bed. Kate grabbed Ron's arm, though, and shook her head. "No, Ron, she's not a spy. She's my kid sister. I swear, I didn't know she was here." Kate kicked her bed. "But now that she's revealed herself she had better come out and face the consequences!"  
  
Miranda rolled out from under the bed and stood. Dressed only in a thin, periwinkle blue nightgown and standing a full head shorter than both Ron and Kate, Miranda shook slightly. "I came in here to grab one of your robes- mum told me to-because I didn't have anything to wear tomorrow to Josie's funeral. Then I heard you coming and I almost called out, but then I heard a man's voice. I thought that maybe you and Draco were going to have a little romantic session so I hid under the bed. I was going to pop out and embarrass the two of you but the man wasn't Draco.And you know the rest." Miranda looked Kate dead in the eye. "You really are in love with Ron Weasley, aren't you?" she asked quietly.  
  
Kate nodded.  
  
"Well, may you two have a long and happy life," Miranda murmured, and she worked up the courage to hug Kate. Kate-both shocked and pleased-returned the hug.  
  
Turning to Ron she said, "Miranda's in. Josie is her sister too, and I know we can trust her. Now come on-We don't have much time. We need to get moving."  
  
Ron nodded and Miranda asked, "To where, Kate?"  
  
Kate smiled. "To find Ron's friends," she answered. "Everyone but Oliver- Like you said, Ron, if we tell him he might do something crazy. Until we really need him then he'll have to be kept in the dark about it all."  
  
Ron grunted in response as he went into Kate front room. "How will we get out?" Miranda asked.  
  
"By Floo Powder. Mother hooked us up to the network so that relatives from France could come for the funeral. The network will close at promptly five a.m. in the morning tomorrow, so we need to get my plans into action as soon as possible." The two sisters moved into Kate's sitting room, where Ron had lit a fire. "You'll go first, Ron," Kate said, striding over to the fireplace mantle and grabbing a small box off it. "Where do your friends usually reside on weekend evenings?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "They could be any matter of places, but my bet's that they're all at Harry and Hermione's, preparing for Christmas. Oliver won't be there, though. He locked himself in his room or something to that degree."  
  
"Poor thing.Do you think he's suicidal?" Kate asked.  
  
Ron sighed deeply. "I'm not sure, but Fred and George and Orfay have gone over to watch over him. He's safe enough." He took the box from Kate and removed a silvery powder, throwing it in the fire and standing back and the flames flared. "I'll go first, Kate," he told her. "I'll summon for you and your sister through the fire in a few minutes. I want to explain what's happening before you two both show up. Harry and Hermione have a blocking guard on their Floo Network and only certain close friends are allowed to access it. They'll need to take it down for you two to come through."  
  
Having said that Ron stepped into the fire and called out, "Godric's Hollow, the Potter home!" In an instant he was gone, off to Harry and Hermione Potter's.  
  
Kate and Miranda stood in silence for a moment and Miranda got the impression that her sister was off in her own world. There was a lost look in Kate's eyes that betrayed the pressure of going between Ron and Draco had put on her. Finally, after a good five minutes, Ron's head appeared in the fireplace. "You're good to go, Kate," he said, grinning slightly. "And I hope you don't mind, but there are a few other friends here."  
  
Kate arched an eyebrow in manner that she had no doubt picked up from her fiancé. "Friends?" she asked, and Miranda sensed a bit of tension. "Are these trustable friends?"  
  
Ron nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Kate. Just come on through."  
  
Kate nodded and Ron's head disappeared. Taking some Floo powder and throwing it into the flames, Kate stepped into the flames and called out, "Godric's Hollow, the Potter's home!"  
  
***  
  
Kate arrived with a bump in the Potter's home. All the spinning had made her quite dizzy and she stumbled around the room for a moment before stumbling to the ground. Before she could right herself and stand up two pairs of arms had hauled Kate up and plopped her into a fluffy chair. The room began to focus, then, and Kate took in the eight faces that crowded around her. The first five people she knew-Harry, Hermione, Lee, Cho, and her own dear Ron. Then there was an old man with long, flowing silvery hair and a beard of equal length. Perched on his crooked nose were half-moon spectacles, and his smile was most genuine. Kate knew-from descriptions, pictures, and books-that this man was the great Albus Dumbledore.  
  
There was another man besides Dumbledore, and though he couldn't have been over forty-two, his brown hair was mostly gray and, in certain parts, there were large bald spots. His eyes were just as kind as Dumbledore's, though, and Kate felt instantly at ease. The eighth and final person in the small room-Kate thought it to be a study-was much less kind looking than his companions and, as Kate studied his face, she got the feeling that they had met before. Yes, the sallow skin, unattractive sneer, greasy black hair, and black attire were familiar. It suddenly clicked.  
  
"You were at my engagement masquerades," Kate whispered, and the man nodded. "You were Draco's teacher.Potions, wasn't it? Yes, I remember you. Severus Snape? Mr. Malfoy introduced us!" The man nodded again. "How can I be sure that you're trustable? Mr. Malfoy said you were an old family friend, and Draco has mentioned you many times. What's stopping you from telling them what I'm up to?"  
  
Miranda had arrived by then, but none but Harry noticed her entrance, for Dumbledore had stepped forward to speak. "Ms. Lowell, Severus is a most trusted friend of mine. He will not betray your sister's whereabouts."  
  
Kate nodded, though she still looked wary of someone connected to her fiancé in any way. Next to speak was Ron. "Kate, I believe you already know that this is Albus Dumbledore and the man next to him is Remus Lupin, another of our Hogwarts teachers. Everyone, this is Kate Lowell and her little sister, Miranda."  
  
Dumbledore stepped forward then. "Ms. Lowell, Ron here has informed us that your mother staged the death of your sister Josephine and that she is planning to give Josephine's baby girl to your sister Peggy to raise. Is this all true?"  
  
Kate nodded. "I brewed the potion myself, sir. A little before five-o-clock yesterday evening my mother fed Josephine a potion called the Sopor en Obitus, or the Sleep of Death. Each supply of the potion will make Josie seem dead for twenty-four hours at a time. My mother fed Josie the second potion two hours ago. She has until sundown the day after tomorrow to get Josie out of the country and into Sweden, where there is a convent for girls in my sister's position." When Kate finished her story Snape looked amazed.  
  
"Astounding," he muttered. "You brewed such a complex potion in such little time. It took me months to get that one strait."  
  
Kate blushed. It wasn't often an adult complemented her about her academic skills. "Thank you, sir. I learned it in advanced courses at Beauxbatons. The French pride themselves very much in the art of potion making, something I've noticed the British do not." She shot a pointed look at Ron.  
  
"But moving on," Lupin said, earning a sneer from Snape, "what exactly was this plan Ron mentioned?"  
  
Kate took a deep breath. "Well, it's a really iffy plan. It all depends on everything going exactly as planned. Getting the little boy shouldn't be too hard. I have a good idea of what MIB is like and if my assumptions are correct then all one would have to do is pay a nurse or doctor a substantial amount of money." There was a gasp of disgust from Hermione but Kate continued on. "Someone will have to erase the records of the boy ever existing, though, and that might be tricky, but I have some friends that could help. However, getting Josie to America, which is what I intend to do, will not be so easy. I have pondered many options, but in the end I have reached only one conclusion about how to keep Josie's identity a complete secret."  
  
Kate turned to Dumbledore. "Erasing her memory of everything to do with magic is the only way to keep her safe, isn't it?" she asked.  
  
Dumbledore nodded and Miranda cried out. "But Kate," she protested, "you're going to make Josephine forget us? Her sisters? And magic? Her son will never know he's a wizard?"  
  
Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "And we'll destroy all evidence of Josephine's muggle identity. Your mother would endanger the situation if she were to." But the old man trailed off and shook his head, as if catching himself before revealing a most private secret.  
  
Miranda was still furious. "But magic is this child's birthright! He is a Brother of the Light, Kate.And you're going to take that all away from him? Isn't there another way?" The look in Kate's eyes answered her question. Miranda turned away, refusing to meet Kate's eyes.  
  
Finally Kate gave up and began to explain her plan. "When I brewed Sopor en Obitus I also brewed a potion meant to change Josie's appearance."  
  
"You mean a Polyjuice Potion?" Lee asked.  
  
Kate shook her head. "No. It would take too long to brew a Polyjuice Potion. The potion I brewed enhances and changes certain characteristics. It's permanent, cannot be magically removed, and it will make Josie look much different than she does now. Her hair won't be blond, her eyes won't be blue.She'll be taller, thinner.Things like that."  
  
"What about Oliver and the baby?" Cho asked.  
  
Kate frowned. "I didn't make enough for them." she murmured, and Snape stepped forward.  
  
"I could brew another for Wood. I know what potion you're talking about. And once your sister drinks it the potion shall transfer to her bloodstream, and into her breast milk. The baby will look like her," he said, and Kate smiled gratefully at the Potions Master.  
  
"Thank you," she said, then she continued on. "Tomorrow, right after Josephine's funeral, two of my friends, Felicite Delacour and Chevalier Audric will enter the Magical Institute of Birth, carrying a bag full of galleons."  
  
***  
  
"Psst!"  
  
Beni Peters whirled around, looking down the deserted hallway of MIB. She turned around and continued to walk down the hall towards the nursery, fresh nappies in hand, when she heard the noise again.  
  
"Psst!"  
  
This time when she turned around there was a man standing there, dressed in fine, velvet black robes. Before Beni could scream a hand clamped itself over her mouth. Beni was turned around very slowly and soon came face to face with a dangerously beautiful woman. Chocolate brown hair, unblemished skin, full lips.The woman was just as striking as the man, who, Beni now noticed, had a black leather bag the size of a gnome.  
  
A small smile curved Beni's lips. She knew what these people wanted.A child. Over the fifty-eight years it had been open MIB had overseen over eight million illegal adoptions. All it took was a significant sum of money and one could hand choose whatever child suited them. No questions were asked, no backgrounds were checked. The paperwork was forged and the child was gone. It was no skin off the back of the doctors, nurses, and staff member at MIB. All that was required was that a third of the money received for a child was given back to MIB. The doctor or nurse who had been approached got to keep the rest.  
  
Though Beni was new at MIB-it was only her second month-she had already made sixteen thousand galleons off two separate 'cases'. And these people looked to have much more than sixteen thousand galleons.  
  
"How much have you got?" Beni asked.  
  
The man smiled, pleased that the message had gotten across. "Twenty-five thousand galleons. This is an installment of five thousand. Give us a baby boy and you'll get the rest."  
  
Beni smiled sweetly. Oh, how she loved her job! "Very well. Right this way please. This is where all the adorable-"  
  
"What about the sick children? The ones with birth problems? Or recovering children?" the woman asked.  
  
"Sick baby boys? You want to look at-"  
  
"We're looking for a specific child, kid," the man said, and his tone was cold and clipped. "He was born two days ago; he was a twin. His sister went with the grandmother. The boy had birth difficulties. Know which one I mean?"  
  
Beni did. She had been on duty the day that that certain young woman had come in and she personally had taken the small boy-who suffered from undeveloped lungs-to the critical care unit, where the small infant had been placed in a special machine much like a mother's womb. He had laid there for a day and a half, his lungs developing by the second. He had barely made it, but he was on the road to recovery.  
  
"You want that child?" she asked. "He's pretty tiny. And he'll need a lot of money to go get checkups at a doctor. You sure?"  
  
The woman nodded. "Just show us the way," she commanded.  
  
Beni smiled again, though this time her face was greedy. "It would be my pleasure."  
  
***  
  
It was dark out and, as Sophia rushed along down the pathway towards the guesthouse that Josephine was kept in, she knew Amelia was going to be angry. Sophia had been flirting with one of the Malfoy's cousins and had lost track of time. Really, how could Amelia blame her? She would have done the same, Sophia thought, chuckling. She was so amused with herself that she never noticed two dark figures step out from behind a tree.  
  
***  
  
"Get in here!" Amelia hissed, dragging a hooded Sophia into the guesthouse. "Kate's just given Josephine the antidote for all the poisons. We'll have to get moving, though. Josephine's ship leaves in little less than an hour!" Amelia frowned. "Sophie, why are you wearing that horrendous hooded fur thing indoors? It's burning hot in here and you're dripping snow all over the place!"  
  
Amelia made a move to tug the hooded cloak, which covered Sophia's face, off, but before she could something hit her from behind. Amelia's eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap. Now the person under the hood threw it off and grinned at Kate, who was standing over her knocked out sister, a broken pot in her hands.  
  
"Good job, Kate," Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah. But come on-Josie's still out of it. We need to help her out. Here- throw that cloak over her. The transformation's begun and I don't want anyone to see her." Hermione obliged Kate and, after the two of them had both donned their respective hooded cloaks, they grabbed Josephine and swept out of the guesthouse.  
  
***  
  
"Wood, how nice to see you."  
  
Oliver Wood blinked. Just what he needed right now. Prof. Severus Snape, at his door.  
  
"Go away," he snapped, but Snape wouldn't take no for an answer. He- accompanied by a familiar young woman-barged their way in and forced a potion down Oliver's throat.  
  
***  
  
In the end, after the joyful reunion between mother, father, and son, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Lee, Ron, and Harry all insisted they had allergies while Hermione, Cho, and Felitcite bawled openly. Chevalier, Lupin, Dumbledore, Miranda, and Kate wiped tears from their eyes as Josephine, Oliver, and the little boy-whom had been named Jesse Oliver- hugged and kissed. And when Josephine turned to everyone and began to sob her 'thank yous' not even icy Snape could keep from blinking very rapidly.  
  
"You're a wonderful little sister," Josephine whispered to Kate when everyone was preoccupied with the Jesse. "See, I knew you'd come through for me, Kate. I told you that you could help me. I just wish that there was someway I could return the favor, but nothing will ever be great enough."  
  
Kate, through her tears, kissed her sister softly on the cheek. "Sister, there is no need for repaying. After all, what's family for?"  
  
***  
  
They were at the boat dock now and everyone was saying their last goodbyes. Kate and Josephine had held off to the last minute though. Everyone had backed off and had given the two sisters a good deal of space. Finally Josephine opened her mouth, but Kate held up her hands.  
  
"Don't say it Josie. We'll see each other again someday, whether on this earth or not. And you'll always be my big sister."  
  
This only made Josephine cry harder. "Kate?" she asked. "Let's pretend that I'm not.leaving. Let's just pretend that I'm going on a trip. Let's just say that I'll be back in a week." Josephine said, and the two sisters embraced for a last time.  
  
"Have a nice trip," Kate whispered hoarsely.  
  
"I'll get you a souvenir," Josephine murmured.  
  
"I hear the U.S. is wonderful this time of year," Kate said, backing up towards Ron, Miranda, and Dumbledore. "Good-"  
  
But Josephine cut her off. "Let's not say goodbye Kate." She stopped and looked Kate dead in the eye. "It will never be over, it will never be forgotten, and it will never be goodbye." She blew Kate a kiss and walked over to where Lupin was standing, ready to perform a heavy-duty memory charm.  
  
Kate couldn't watch the friendly, forty-something man erase her sister's entire life. Instead she cried into Ron's robes. Miranda, who had no lover to be comforted by, was surprised when Snape patted her arm reassuringly. He was even more surprised when she hugged him and cried onto his shoulder too.  
  
***  
  
Jacqueline Marody couldn't wait to get to America. She and her husband of one year-Charles-were moving to the States with their new baby son, Kat, and she couldn't be happier as she waved to the crowd of people seeing the S.S. Anne off. Her soft gray eyes scanned the crowd, and though she knew no one she knew was down there, she felt as though she were looking for someone.  
  
Finally her eyes came to rest upon a young woman with mahogany hair and a robe like dress. Jacqueline was sure that she had never seen this lady before, but, as the woman watched her tears streamed down her face, an odd feeling came over her. Without really knowing why Jacqueline reached for the locket she kept around her neck and, after taking careful aim, threw it to the woman.  
  
The woman caught it with a stunned expression, and, as the boat pulled away, Jacqueline saw the woman cup her hands around her mouth and yell something to her. In the roaring din Jacqueline had no idea what the woman had said, but, as she placed her hand over her heart and closed her eyes, she felt every bit of love the woman had sent her way.  
  
***  
  
Down in the crowd Kate clutched Josephine's locket and smiled through her tears, whispering what she had called to her sister again.  
  
"It is never over, it is never forgotten, and it is never goodbye. I will always love you, sister, and god bless."  
  
She turned and walked back to Ron-the only person left. "I trust that you and Harry obliviated Amelia and Sophia's memory, right?"  
  
Ron nodded and pecked Kate on the lips. "Kate, honey, I know how much it hurts, seeing a sibling go like that. But you helped them selflessly, and you should be proud of yourself." Ron pressed his forehead against hers. "I know I am."  
  
Kate sighed and hugged Ron closer than she had ever hugged him before. "Oh, Ron!" she murmured, jamming her eyes shut. "I don't want to go home and face my mother or anyone for that matter. Can I stay at your place?"  
  
Ron looked amazed. "Kate, do you mean.?"  
  
Kate nodded. She needed love that night, and, in Ron Weasley's bed, that's just what she found. 


	10. Chapter Ten: Betrayed

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger or any of the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They of course belong to J.K. Rowling and a few other big businesses. No money is being made off this story.  
  
Claimer: Though I don't own Harry Potter I do own Ana Lowell, her friends Rey, Liza, and Tinkerbell, as well as Amber-Lyn Davies, along with my friend, Anubia.  
  
A/N: This is the end of Kaitlyn's story, and the end of the chapter is back in Ana's time. Sorry for the holdup in posting this chapter, but this one should hold you over for a while. Oh, and be warned that Kaitlyn makes a few bad decisions in this chapter.  
  
The weekend after Josephine's departure, Kate made herself scarce. She missed Peggy "in labor" and Robert's confessions of "hopeless love". She spent most of her time at Ron's, making love and forgetting all her problems. On Sunday, though, Ron sat her down at his small kitchen table, a solemn expression on his face.  
  
"You have to go back sometime. Malfoy will begin to miss you soon and so will your mother," he said, placing his hand over Kate's.  
  
"I probably won't be able to come back Ron. My mother won't want to risk another pregnancy, and she knows that Draco has fallen in love with me. No one would ever need to know about the plan. This could be the end of us." Kate's eyes pleaded with Ron's.  
  
Ron dropped his gaze to the bowl of fruit on his table and he removed his hand. "Kate," he said slowly, as if he were trying to remember a long and well prepared speech, which he no doubt was, "I love you. You know I do. I proved that these past few days.But I won't be 'the other man'."  
  
Kate's eyes narrowed. "What am I supposed to do, then? Leave my family and run away with you? Live in a dump like this while you try and finish school and get a good job?" She would have raged on, but the look on Ron's face made her stop cold. "Oh, Ron, I didn't mean it like that."  
  
Ron just glared at Kate. "Yes you did. You meant every word of it. I always thought that you were different from your sisters, that you didn't need money to impress you. You never seemed to care that I didn't have a lot, and I loved that. But then you came back from France, all happy and in love with Malfoy, and I wondered just how he had won you over." Ron sneered at Kate, something she had always thought he was incapable of. It made him seem too much like Draco. "So how much money did it take, Kate? I assume you both fell in love in a fancy restaurant and the next morning you woke up with millions of gifts. I'd fall for a guy like that too, Kate."  
  
Kate opened her mouth in protest. "That wasn't why-"  
  
"Kind of makes me wonder what else he bought for you," Ron said, cutting her off. "Or what he bought from you."  
  
SMACK!  
  
Ron reeled backwards, an imprint of Kate's hand on his face. "How dare you!" Kate cried, standing and grabbing her purse. "Don't you ever dare to show your face around my manor! The one my fiancé owns! It's a whole lot better than this dilapidated flat and I'll never have to worry about where my next meal is coming from!"  
  
Kate turned on her heel and stormed out of Ron's apartment-angry tears were beginning to trickle down her cheeks-and ran strait into an elegantly dressed woman. The woman fell over, giving forth a cry of surprise, and the three men who had been following her around rushed to help her up. Really, though, they only made things worse and all four fell to the ground again.  
  
"Get off me you idiots! Get off me!" the woman cried, shoving all three men away. She crossed her bony arms over her thin chest and sneered. "You three go down to the bakery across the street, and fetch me a jellyroll," she snapped, and there was something familiar about her drawl.  
  
"But Mrs. Verafux-"  
  
"Beat it Luc!" the woman snapped, and the men did so. Only then did the woman turn her beady gaze on Kate. "Tiff with a lover, dear?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.  
  
"What?" Kate asked.  
  
"I didn't want to say anything in front of my assistants but I did hear you and that man arguing." At Kate's look of embarrassment the woman held up a light blue gloved hand. "Oh, I only heard the last few lines, when you said you'd never have to worry where your next meal is coming from." The woman gave Kate a kind smile. "My name's Pernilla Verafux. I own this entire block, or at least all the buildings on it, and every six months I stop by to check up on things. You aren't the first woman I've heard have a fight." Mrs. Verafux gave Kate a knowing smile. "You'll find a better man, darling. If that silly little boy wasn't smart enough to notice what a nice girl he had then you're better off without him."  
  
Kate couldn't help but smile. This woman reminded her of what her mother had been a very, very, very long time ago. "Thanks Mrs. Verafux," she said, and she began walking towards the stairway. "Thanks a lot."  
  
Mrs. Verafux smiled, nodded, and watched as Kate disappeared through the door. As soon as the door slammed shut, though, a fourth assistant appeared. "Mrs. Verafux?" he asked.  
  
Mrs. Verafux turned on the young man, her gray eyes narrowed. "Oh, what is it?"  
  
The assistant gulped before replying, "We just got an owl from your brother. He wants you to have Christmas dinner with him and his family, and your nephew's fiancée."  
  
Mrs. Verafux's annoyed look changed to a faint smile. "Oh, Lucius is so sweet about inviting me over all the time, especially since Philius died. Tell him that I'd love to see Draco again, and I that I can't wait to meet Kaitlyn Lowell!"  
  
***  
  
When Kate arrived back at L'enfer she found Miranda waiting for her in her suites. Her sister was sitting in Kate's favorite armchair, humming softly and reading a trashy romance novel. She barely looked up when Kate slammed the door to her suites, though a faint smile crossed her lips.  
  
"Mother's been looking for you," Miranda said as Kate threw herself down on the couch. "She's quite cross that you haven't been to see Peggy yet. Draco's been looking for you too. He left a package here for you an hour ago." Miranda extracted a small pink box from the stack of books she had by the chair. "He said it was very important that it was opened as soon as possible."  
  
Kate took the box from her younger sister, though the last thing in the world she wanted to do right then was open a gift from Draco. Despite what Mrs. Verafux had said she still felt terrible. There were certain lines that she and Ron had never crossed. Draco Malfoy and money troubles were two of them. Both subjects were the starters of the few fights she and Ron had ever had, including the one that ended their relationship.  
  
Kate sighed wistfully to herself. She had to admit sometime in the near future that she and Ron would never get back together again. It was a depressing thought. Ron had been the first man ever to look past her sisters and see her for a truly beautiful individual. Ron had been the first man to ever tell her that she was worth her weight in gold, and he was the first man ever to kiss her. And after she had lost her virginity to him.Kate felt tears welling up in her eyes again. Ron had honestly hit a nerve when he hinted that he wasn't her first.But Kate's ears finally caught up to her and she looked up sharply, staring at Miranda.  
  
"Say what?" she asked.  
  
Miranda rolled her eyes and pulled out a stack of letters from the stack of books around her. "I said that Ron's owled you thirteen times since you left his flat, and he's owled me five times to see if I could get him back in your good graces." Miranda reached down among the books one last time. "He also," she said, shoving another box-this one wrapped in brown butcher paper and twine, "sent you this. It's kind of heavy."  
  
Now Kate was intrigued. She was not going to read the letters-not yet, anyway-but the packages, both of them roughly the same size, were a different matter. "Which one should I open first?" she asked her kid sister.  
  
Miranda pointed to Ron's. "How about his? I've been dying to see what's in there." She paused a moment and then shrugged. "But it doesn't really matter. Both of them have shaken before."  
  
Kate stared at Miranda. "I beg your pardon?"  
  
Miranda gave her sister a witty grin. "It's just like I said. They've both- Hold on! See, Kate? Draco's present is shaking! Hurry, open it up!"  
  
Kate grabbed Draco's present-the package was actually moving in her hands- and tore the pretty paper off. For a moment she was too in awe of the pretty music box she found under the wrapping to actually open it. The box was made of a deep, wine-red sort of wood and incrusted with rubies there was an opal plate in the center of it all. The box shook again, though, so Kate opened the top quickly and let out a shriek of surprise when she saw what was inside: a small, three-inch tall woman dressed in an elegant tutu. Kate was enough in style, though, to get over the shock and know what this box actually was.  
  
"Merlin!" she gasped, and Miranda was now breathing down her neck. "It's a faerie box! That woman's a faerie!"  
  
"I most certainly am!" the faerie cried, finally succeeding in jumping out of the box and down to the floor. Once there she dusted off her pale blue tutu and looked defiantly up at Kate, anger gleaming in her blue eyes. "Well, go ahead! Make a demand of me, why don't you? That's what your lover- boy wanted you to do, wasn't it?"  
  
"Goodness," Miranda hissed in Kate's ear. "Have you ever got a fiery little one."  
  
"I heard that!" the faerie screeched. "You'd be 'fiery' too if you'd just been taken from all you'd ever known and stuffed in a box and told to obey someone who had bought you! You're fiancé is no prince charming, missy. When you see him again tell him that I hopes he chokes on his dinner tonight!"  
  
Kate couldn't help but stifle laugh. No one had ever spoken that ill of Draco, not even Ron. "Listen," she said, grabbing the struggling faerie off the ground and bringing her up to eye level. "You just say whatever you want, okay Tinkerbell?"  
  
The faerie looked outraged. "My name," she all but shouted, "is not Tinkerbell!"  
  
"Maybe not," Kate smirked, "but it's your new nickname. Tinkerbell was a faerie in a muggle book called Peter Pan. Maybe you'd like to read it someday."  
  
The newly christened Tinkerbell snorted with disdain. "While the name is regarded with only vile disgust, the offer of free speech has not gone unnoticed. I suppose you expect me to give you something in return?"  
  
Miranda was barely containing her gales of laughter now, but Kate kept a straight face. "Well, if you're offering."  
  
Tinkerbell snorted and tugged on her tutu. "I suppose I must.Very well, I will dance only for you and your children. You fiancé seemed very confidant that he'd give you some in the near future."  
  
Miranda snorted, but she yelped in surprise when Ron's package began to shake again. "Lord almighty!" she gasped. "Go ahead and open that one too."  
  
Tinkerbell arched a fair eyebrow. "Who's this from?" she asked, and Kate saw the faint traces of a grin on the faerie's face. "A present from a secret lover?"  
  
"Ex secret lover, you mean," Miranda whispered. "And a real big emphasis on the ex."  
  
Tinkerbell shot Kate an admiring look. "Well, Kate," she said. "It seems that your dirty laundry has been aired. So you've been having a secret affair and it all blew up?"  
  
Her smirk turned to a worried smile when Kate burst into tears. "Oh, come off it!" Miranda hissed, swinging a pillow at her older sister.  
  
"But we were so in love!" Kate cried, clutching Ron's package to her chest. "And I know that it's over-the fight might not have been so big but it destroyed all the sparks and turned everything into reality-but it still hurts. I loved Ron, and." She trailed off, and so did her tears. "Oh, I'm sorry, Tink. You must think I'm an emotional basket case!"  
  
Kate began to work on unwrapping the package while Tinkerbell leapt onto her shoulder. Finally, after wrestling for a few minutes with the unbreakable twine, another box lay in front of Kate, though this one was obviously handmade. A few, well smoothed rocks had been set in the wood, drift woof of some sort, and a picture of Kate and Ron in July was enchanted on the front of it. The box shook again, and Kate opened it carefully, gasping at its contents. There, dressed in much simpler clothes than Tinkerbell, was another faerie.  
  
"It's about time you opened this thing up!" this faerie cried, with as much passion and outrage as Tinkerbell had a few moments ago. "I damn near suffocated in that box!" Then she caught sight of Tinkerbell. "And who is this pixie?" she asked, and, if Kate wasn't mistaken, she thought she saw a glimmer of hatred in the new faerie's eyes.  
  
Tinkerbell threw her nose up in the air, a haughty look on her face. "My name is Tinkerbell, I'll have you know, and I'd never curse like that. It's terribly unladylike."  
  
The new faerie sneered. "Unladylike? Humph! What a lot you know, you blonde ditz!"  
  
Tinkerbell gasped in outrage, but she held in the insults that she so desperately wanted to fling. Instead she turned to Kate and asked in a curt tone, "Well, what are you going to call this one? If I have to be named after some faerie then so does she!"  
  
Miranda grinned. "Well, the only other faerie I can think of is the Sugar Plum Faerie. How about Sugar Plum?"  
  
The new faerie sneered. "Why, that's a ridiculous name!" she muttered, but Kate was already smiling.  
  
"And we can call her Sugar. That's real cute, isn't it?" she asked. Miranda nodded, Tinkerbell smirked, and 'Sugar' fumed. Just then, though, there was a knock at the door.  
  
"Kate, darling? Are you in?"  
  
Kate and Miranda froze. "Draco," Kate whispered, and Miranda nodded.  
  
"You hold on to Tinkerbell and I'll take Sugar and Ron's box and hide them until he's gone," she whispered.  
  
Draco knocked again, but this time Kate stood and threw open her door. "Draco!" she cried, but she was cut off when Draco leaned in and gave her a nice, long kiss. When they parted Miranda cleared her throat uncomfortably and, after kissing Kate on the cheek, she took her leave, Sugar and Ron's gift hidden safely in her bag of books.  
  
"So," Draco began once he had closed the door to Kate's suite and made himself comfortable, "where've you been these past days? I've been looking like mad for you all over the manor and its grounds, but you were never in the usual place. I have surprise that I wanted to give you." He flashed Kate a charming grin, though she could tell he was rather hurt by her long absence.  
  
"Oh, yes! The surprise! I got her already, and I think we've hit it right off!" Kate smiled and sat down on the same couch as Draco. "The little imp should be around here somewhere."  
  
Draco waved his hands in the air. "Well, she was a gift-actually, my mum thought that one up-but I have another bigger surprise. If you'd like I can take you to see it."  
  
Kate didn't want to ruin Draco's good mood-she was going to be spending a lot of time with him now-so she smiled and said, "Of course! Is it on the grounds? Should I grab my cloak?"  
  
Draco smiled, helped Kate up, and shook his head. "Use mine," he said, grabbing his cloak off the coat rack and slipping it on Kate's shoulders. "We'll be in the carriage most of the time, Kate, but after that.Well, you'll see soon enough." With a wink and a sexy smirk Draco was out the door, leaving Kate to follow after him.  
  
***  
  
Draco insisted on blindfolding Kate with a green scarf. "I don't want to ruin the surprise," he had said a few minutes into the carriage ride. Luckily the carriage ride wasn't too long and soon Kate found herself being helped out of it and into the cold winter evening. She listened to the crunch of the snow under her boots as Draco led her over a winding path. "We're almost there," he said, and Kate could feel the cloud of mist that his breath made on her neck.  
  
Finally, it seemed, Draco stopped. "Can I take the blindfold off now?" she asked.  
  
"Let me do it for you," he replied, and, when he tugged the scarf off and Kate saw what the second surprise was, she nearly fainted.  
  
Draco had taken her to the place where they had had their picnic back in the summer. They were standing atop the hill that overlooked the lake where Kate had almost drowned but they were facing away from that. There, down the hill, through an orchard, and across a great, grassy lawn was a gigantic house, as big as L'enfer. Like L'enfer the manor was made of stone with large windows that reflected in a way so that you could not see inside. No gates surrounded the house or the grounds of this new manor so Kate assumed that heavy-duty protective charms had been placed up instead.  
  
"Oh, Draco!" she all she was able to murmur. "It's gorgeous! Will this be ours?"  
  
Draco smiled-he was obviously pleased with her reaction-and kissed her on the cheek. "Of course it will be!" he whispered in her ear. "As soon as we got back from our trip I asked father if I could have the land as an early wedding gift. Other than that I paid for most everything, and it was no small task getting a whole manor built in a little over three months, but I wanted to give it to you as an early Christmas gift."  
  
Kate wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and buried her face in the folds of his robe. Suddenly all the splendor of her new home had evaporated only to be replaced by a sick, dreadful feeling. This was what her life was going to be like. Big, huge, flashy gifts would be given on every possible occasion. At first there would be thought behind these gifts, such as a heart shaped diamond necklace for Valentine's Day or a beautiful new wardrobe on her birthday, but after a few years the gifts would just be a guilt gift given because he couldn't make it home for their children's birthdays or because he just didn't want to be trapped with her any longer. For a while he would still love her, and he would fight great battles to stay away from all the pretty, young women that caught his eyes, but one day all the pressure would be too much, and he would begin to have a long chain of scandalous affairs.  
  
Such had been the way of Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's relationship, and the old saying always went, "Like father, like son."  
  
But would things have been any better than if she had chosen to stay with Ron? They would have had to run away-very, very far away-to hide from the wrath of Kate's family. Money would be scarce, and what with them both finishing school there wouldn't be much time to develop their relationship. At first, though, they'd both try and live off the chemistry they had once had. Ron would remember the precious moments he and Kate had spent together in Salazar Harbor while Kate would reminisce about all the sweet nothings that Ron had once given her in abundance. But, sooner or later, reality would rear its ugly head, and all the dreams of a happy future would go up in smoke. Ron would be attending college, and no doubt a few college girls would attract his attention. It would be the same as it would be with Draco. Study night and study night, woman after woman, until things imploded.  
  
"Kate?" Draco asked quietly. It suddenly occurred to Kate they must have been standing like that for a while.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you want to go inside? We haven't got all the furniture-my mother wanted to help you pick that out-but we do have the bedroom furnished." Only a fool could have missed the suggestive lilt in Draco's drawl.  
  
Normally Kate would have ignored the hidden innuendo, especially after sleeping with Ron. But tonight, like the night that Josephine had left, she needed love. She wanted someone to tell her how beautiful she was, that she was silky to the touch, that she was desired above all others. And she wanted to forget Ron, and forget him she did.  
  
As she led Draco into the large bedroom there was no one further from her mind. As she allowed Draco to undress them both on the grand, four-poster bed every moment she had ever spent with him evaporated. And finally, when Draco slid gently into her, if you had asked her who exactly Ron Weasley was, she wouldn't have bothered replying.  
  
***  
  
The next few days were, sufficient to say, the happiest of Kate's young life. It wasn't that she hadn't had a wonderful time with Ron-he had always known how to make her laugh-and indeed, before then, she had always considered her moments with Ron to be the most wonderful. It was simply the complete ignorance she had displayed in those days. In the months following the five days after her breakup with Ron Kate always wondered how she could be so stupid. How she could have not known the impending doom that was closing in on those she loved.  
  
As she had gotten to know Tinkerbell and Sugar, and as she had begun to notice their little quirks-for instance, Sugar loved quoting famous people- she should have been watching Peggy more closely. She had barely noticed the hurt look in her older sister's eyes when she finally stopped around her rooms the next morning.  
  
"Where were you?" Peggy asked, setting the little girl-she was named Amber- Lynette-down on the changing table. "This is the first time you or Miranda have stopped by."  
  
Kate sighed deeply. "I was with Draco-"  
  
"Last night," Peggy finished. She was now changing a wailing Amber-Lyn's nappie, though ever once and a while she'd shoot Kate angry looks. "You were only with him last night. You know, I could've used some help around here, what with an infant to take care of. It isn't like Robert is going to be of any help. He doesn't want anything to do with little Amber."  
  
But Kate hadn't really been listening. She had been too busy thinking of what Draco had told her that morning.  
  
"Things always make more sense when they come in threes," he said earlier that morning after a nice, pleasant breakfast in bed. "Therefore, to make the gifts I gave you yesterday even better, I'd have to give you one more tonight." After kissing her on her cheek he had taken his leave, saying nothing other than to meet him that night in L'enfer's ballroom. It became so apparent that she wasn't really listening that Peggy snapped at Kate to "get the bloody hell out!" and to "take Amber with you!"  
  
Kate hadn't minded that much, really. She loved being with Amber-Lyn and so did the faeries. Miranda joined the party and she, Sugar, and Tinkerbell had begun to prod Kate.  
  
"So, honey," Tinkerbell had said in a coy voice while doing her stretches, "where were you last night?"  
  
"Yeah," Miranda said. "Neither you or Draco were back here by the time we all went to bed. Mr. Malfoy walked around muttering things like, 'That's my boy-the ladies love him!' all night." She shot her big sister a knowing smile. "I think someone has a secret. What about you, Sugar?"  
  
"There must be some narrowness in the soul that compels one to have secrets. Quoted by Henry David Thoreau in 1842," was the only response that the faerie could muster. Since Kate had arrived back in her rooms Sugar had managed to remember five quotes to throw into the conversation, said by people such as Ardaous Fernandez (a famous poetic wizard) and William Shakespeare.  
  
"Yes," Tinkerbell said. "There must be some narrowness in your soul, Kate. What happened last night?"  
  
"Let every man mind his own business," Sugar said, cutting in. "Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1743."  
  
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Tinkerbell cried, waving her tiny arms in the air and causing Amber to laugh. After shooting the infant a smile she turned back to Sugar. "Why do you always quote people?" she asked.  
  
Sugar shot Tinkerbell a vain smile. "While some of us primp away in front of the mirror others study many a book a memorize things worth repeating."  
  
"Well, then," Tinkerbell said, "if you're so smart then why do you only say things that have already been said? Haven't you any experiences of your own to draw from?"  
  
Sugar blushed. "I prefer reading to exploring," she explained, more to Kate then Tinkerbell. "I can learn things faster than I can explore them."  
  
Kate just smiled as the two faeries bickered on. She bounced Amber-Lyn up and down upon her knee and closed her eyes. She felt so at peace, so happy.  
  
"Hey, Kate!" Miranda said suddenly, interrupting Kate's thoughts. "Last night these two asked me about the Light. I said that you could explain it better than I, and I promised them that you'd be all to glad to relate the story of the Light's origin." Miranda, Sugar, and Tinkerbell all looked pleadingly at Kate. "You do tell the story so well, too!"  
  
Kate sighed and patted Amber-Lyn on the head. "All right," she said, much to the joy of her sister. "Here it goes! The story of how the Union of the Light came to be begins long ago, when magic had just begun to take its roots in the world. In the beginning all the magical folk of the world gathered together and formed clans, dividing the land up based on how many people were in each clan. Now, each clan had sub-groups, referred to as tribes, so that the whole clan did not eat all the food in one certain area. Tribes usually settled into different climates such as the ocean, the mountains, etcetera. The clan that eventually formed the Light originally settled down in the area that on day became France. There were four tribes in that clan-the Bois, the Terres, the Montagnes, and the Fleuves-but one of the tribes, the Bois, turned to the Dark Arts.  
  
"The Bois and the Terres merged to form one tribe, and so did the Fleuves and the Montagnes. The Bois and Terres changed their name to L'Obscurité, or the Darkness. The Fleuves and the Montagnes changed their tribe name to L'Lumiére, or the Light. For the next twenty-six years the two tribes fought amongst themselves-the Bois wanted to use their Dark Magic to take over other clans throughout what became Europe-the Darkness always led on by someone from the family of Zaveron and the Light always led on by someone from the family of Mayor.  
  
"In the twenty-fourth year of the battle things were looking pretty grim for the Light. They had just suffered a massive loss of soldiers in a surprise attack by the Darkness, and their previous leader, Sylvain Mayor, had died then as well. Sylvain Mayor had been the Light's greatest leader since the beginning of the civil war, but he had been young as well, and he had had no chance to have children. The only other living Mayor at the time was Sylvain's illegitimate half-brother Thélo. The members of the Light had little faith in Thélo-he had, after all, been born to one of his late father's mistresses-but they were desperate enough to give him a try, and thank Merlin that they did.  
  
"You see, Thélo was a well educated man, where his brother Sylvain had been educated only in the ways of battle. Thélo could strategize much better than Sylvain ever could, and he could also anticipate the Darkness's moves, thanks the help of six sisters, all of them Seers. Their surname was D'Aurélle, and one of them would always help Thélo predict various-but not all-the moves that the Darkness would make. Anyways, Thélo and the D'Aurélles worked together to stop the Darkness, and slowly their work paid off. During the next year the Darkness began to slowly weaken, but they had a traitor in their midst.  
  
"You see, Thélo was very much in love with one of the D'Aurélle sisters, the second to youngest, Liana. Liana loved him as well, but their relationship was not to be, for another man had his eye on Liana as well. His name was Dorien Zaveron, the current leader of the Darkness. Liana wanted nothing to do with him though, so Dorien lured her eldest sister, Nell, into his clutches instead. He got Nell to spill all sorts of secrets about the Light, and she pledged her loyalty to him instead of returning to the Light's headquarters.  
  
"However, Nell had been Liana's closest companion, and so she coaxed her younger sister into a clearing one day where a band of Dorien's henchmen were waiting. They forced themselves upon her, and not too much later Liana found herself pregnant with a little boy. Too ashamed to return to Thélo, Liana fled into the wilderness, but not before leaving six final prophecies with another of her sisters, Belina. Two of the six prophecies told of how to defeat Dorien Zaveron and the Darkness, but the other four were meant for the future, when something much worse than the Darkness would arise.  
  
"Liana's prophecies were of great use, and eventually the Darkness was defeated, but not without great consequences. Many of the remaining people in the Light tribe were killed, including Liana, who had been too weak from giving birth to defend herself or her son, Elfric. Nell too was killed, but not before having the child of Dorien Zaveron, a young girl named Marzella. Both babies were brought to a heartbroken Thélo, and it was only after looking upon their faces that Thélo decided that everyone, including himself, would change the spelling of their names, to signify a new start. After christening himself Télo Maire, he changed the names of Marzella Zaveron to Marzel Xaveron. He renamed Elfric D'Aurélle Elaric Lowell, and he raised both children like his own.  
  
"Eventually the other four sisters had children, but they too had changed their names from D'Aurélle. Belina was now Belina Audric, Germaine was now Germaine Helluwitz, Iva was now Iva DeSanders, and Marian was now Marian Merlow. With the help of Télo they formed the Union of the Light, also known as the Sisterhood and Brotherhood of the Light. Many of the ex- Darkness supporters-mostly people who had once belonged to the Montagne tribe-were invited to join, but not many took up the offer. The Union of the Light was formed in memory of the mistakes made in the civil war between the tribes of the once proud clan, and in memory of Liana and Nell." Finally Kate stopped talking and took a deep breath. "Well, Miranda," she said. "There it is. How the Light came to be. But you tell Sugar and Tinkerbell about how to become a member of the Light."  
  
Miranda nodded, obviously pleased with the responsibility, and began where her sister left off. "The Union of the Light was formed specifically so that those who had once belonged to the tribes of the clan that fought could always have protection from other clans and enemies. Télo Maire said that it was the new clan, but that, to prevent another war, it would be a completely unified clan. He found the town of Lumière et Amour as a protective place for any of the sisters or brothers of the Light."  
  
"How would one go about joining the Union of Light?" Sugar wondered aloud.  
  
"There are two ways to join the Light, by the way. The first is to be born to a parent who belongs to the Light, like Kate and I were. As you might have noticed, Elaric Lowell was our ancestor. Our great-great-great-great- great grandmother moved from France to Britain and raised her family here after her husband died. She disliked the Maire who was leading the Light at the time-someone from the family of Maire has always been head of the Union of the Light-and wanted to escape his tyrannical ways. Her sons liked it here so much, however, that they staid put."  
  
"I suppose that your mother was part of the Light as well?" Tinkerbell asked, and Miranda shook her head.  
  
"Not through birth, like us. She joined because she married into a family that belonged to the light. A powerful family at that. The Lowells have always had great power because of Liana's prophecies. Our friends Lisle and Chevalier belong to the Light, through the families of Audric and Merlow, so they come from one of the original families as well. I suppose their very, very, very distant family, but hundreds of years have destroyed any similarities between us. And those are the only two ways of joining the Light-through birth and marriage."  
  
"But even if you're born into the Light you aren't an official sister or brother of it until you turn sixteen and awaken the Light within you," Kate added, snuggling up to Amber-Lyn. "Many people assume that the people guarding the gates of Lumière et Amour are merely Kneazle anamagi, but they would be assuming wrong. You see, among other things, all the original people who joined the Light obtained the power to shift into the form of a Kneazle so that they could sense when something wasn't right about a person's aura. They passed it on to all their offspring, and so on and so forth, but the power to shape-shift into a Kneazle can only be awoken when one turns sixteen. And even then you have to pass a test-don't ask me what I had to do because it's a total secret-to awaken to Light. I can change into a Kneazle if I want, but I don't often do so because, since I'm so young, it takes up a lot of my energy to stay focused and stay in that form."  
  
"But what about your mum?" Sugar asked. "How did she awaken the Light within her?"  
  
Miranda answered that question. "The power of marriage vows are so strong that our father was able to transfer to her a little bit of the Light. She had to pass a lot more tests than Kate or I would ever have to because she had less of the Light to work off of, but in the end she succeeded in joining the Sisterhood of the Light."  
  
"And what about 'the family of Maire'?" Tinkerbell inquired. "What's the deal on the current head of the Light?"  
  
Miranda giggled and Kate smiled. "Silas Maire is his name," she said, "and he's somewhat of a family friend. He's Amelia's age-twenty-five years old- and he only just took up the position three summers ago when his father was murdered. He used to come around to out summer home in France a lot but ever since he took up his position he never has the time. He married a friend of ours too, a girl named Bianca."  
  
"How nice," Sugar said, but it was clear that her mind was on something else. "But what about those prophecies that Liana made?"  
  
Kate would have answered the small spite but at that moment Peggy stopped by, a large tote bag slung over her shoulder. "I'm taking Amber out," she said, smiling hopefully. "You're welcome to join us."  
  
"No, no," Kate said, a little disappointed about the interruption. "I sorry, Peggy, but Draco wants me to come down to the ballroom in just a few hours. I'll go along with you on a walk tomorrow, though."  
  
But the damage had already been done. Kate's fate had already been set. Of course Peggy tried not to act like she was hurt, and of course Kate tried to assure herself that she hadn't seen a gleam of hatred in her elder sister's eyes, but neither one did a good job of doing so. And as much as Kate wanted to forget the way Peggy had looked at her when she took little Amber-Lyn, she couldn't. It stayed in the back of her mind all night, nagging her. It was almost as if it were trying to alert her to something.But even though she couldn't forget her sister's odd behavior, she did have other things to do.  
  
A house-elf stopped by not ten minutes after Peggy left, an invitation clutched in his shaking hand. "Master Draco says Yipsy is to give his pretty lady this card," the house-elf, Yipsy, squeaked.  
  
"Thank you," Kate said, standing and taking the invitation. "You may go now."  
  
The house-elf squeaked again and bowed once before disappearing down the hallway. Once he was gone Kate turned her eyes to the invitation. It read, in fancy script, 'Kate, I wanted tonight to be private but my mother got a wind of things and insisted on throwing a ball. Everyone is coming, even on such short notice, and I didn't want you to be surprised. Father will announce you at eight-o-clock so try not to be late. Love Always, Draco Malfoy'  
  
Miranda snatched the invitation away from her sister the second that Kate was done reading it. When she read it herself she squealed with excitement. "Oh, he's throwing you a ball! How far you two have come! And he wanted it to be private, too!"  
  
All questions about the Light had been forgotten.  
  
Tinkerbell grinned. "Isn't that romantic! Do you have a nice dress to wear for all those high rollers?"  
  
Kate shook her head. "I have some nice dresses, and I even have ones that I'd wear for those high class snoots, but tonight I want to be beautiful for Draco and no one else."  
  
"I believe I might have a solution."  
  
Everyone turned to stare at Sugar.  
  
"You?" Tinkerbell asked. "You have a dress that Kate could wear?"  
  
Sugar sent Tinkerbell an acidic glare before turning to Kate. "I have, stored somewhere near here, an entire wardrobe of gowns. They were sewn as a gift to me, before my band was taken, when I was your size." She pointed to Kate and continued on. "If Miranda was up for a walk through the woods then I could show her where they were stashed. I believe there are a few that would very much become her."  
  
Miranda stood and scooped up the tiny sprite. "Sure, I'll go," she said.  
  
Two hours later she and Sugar returned with a large box. Miranda seemed to be quite worn out from dragging it all the way to Kate's room, but when she unlatched the box she gasped. "Oh, Kate," she murmured. "These are the most beautiful gowns I've ever seen!"  
  
And they were. The gowns were made of every fine, expensive material imaginable and with every type of gem in the world sewn onto them. The colors were intensely dazzling, and Kate wondered how in the world Sugar ever came upon such finery. There were headdresses too, and necklaces, and bracelets, and brooches, and tiny trinkets that Kate had never even heard of or seen before.  
  
"How did you come across such finery?" Miranda asked. Even Tinkerbell seemed in awe.  
  
Suagr just shrugged, traces of sadness on her face. "That does not matter," she said. "Just consider it a gift from me to you. I even think that there's a few gowns in here that would fit Miranda."  
  
Tinkerbell, ever the nosey little imp, grinned. "Yes, and she no doubt she herself has a lover who will be attending the ball."  
  
Miranda blushed deeply, but she warranted a response. "Oh," she said, and it was Kate's turn to smirk, "he's far too worldly and wise to ever consider me."  
  
Now even Sugar seemed interested in the object of Miranda's affections. "I'm assuming that, by that, you mean that this man is older than yourself."  
  
This caused Miranda to blush even more. "Yes, he is older. I'm not quite sure but I think he's the age our father would be if he were alive today."  
  
Kate's eyes widened. "But that means he's-Oh, Miranda! This man's at least thirty-one years older than you!"  
  
Tinkerbell was all the more intrigued now. "You've fallen for a man much older than yourself? And he's worldly and wise? Just who is this man?"  
  
Miranda was so red with embarrassment now that Kate thought she would explode. Even her hands, usually a pale cream color, had giant pink blotches upon them. "I have only met him a few times, so maybe it isn't really love, but I know that I desire him and his company." She turned to Kate. "I've envied you very much because you have two men, and I envied you even more when I found that they both loved you. This man-you too know him- does not hold the female sex in high regards. Tell me, how would I ever win such a man over?"  
  
Kate sat down beside her sister and draped her right arm over her sister's shoulder. "Any man," she said, "would be luckier than anything or anyone to be loved by you. That is all I can say, Miranda. You need to find love through your own means, as did I." Kate smiled then and stood. "But what man can resist beauty? Come on, Miranda. Choose out a dress and we can both get prepared together!"  
  
Tinkerbell shot up from her relaxing position on the arm of Kate's favorite chair. "I might be small, but I remember how to apply makeup."  
  
Kate smiled. "Well, then, let's get started!"  
  
Having said that she and her sister began to dig through the gowns-there were about twenty-searching for the perfect one. In the following months Kate wondered if she would have liked to know then what she found out later on. She often pondered if she would have preferred to know how short her happiness would be then, but she always told herself no. She always treasured each last happy moment she spent with her family, and besides, ignorance was truly bliss.  
  
***  
  
Originally it had been a little idea in the back of Draco's mind that had been nagging him ever since he had actually fallen in love with Kate. He had wanted to make it clear to her that he loved her, that he really did want to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted to be able to tell his children that the 'arranged' part of the marriage had been totally forgotten. And so he had decided to propose and make things official.  
  
His only mistake had been to mention the idea to his father a few nights back. Mr. Malfoy, of course, mentioned it to his wife, and she had, unbeknownst to Draco, alerted all the wizarding socialites. Now it was to be some big, fancy gala event. Even the Parkinsons had been invited, though all they did was send Draco scathing looks. Pansy herself looked as though she had been crying something awful. Her best friend-Blaise Zabini- comforted her in the corner.  
  
"Ah, Draco! There you are!" Lucius came up behind his only child and hit him heartily on the shoulder. "I have just been informed that your young fiancée has arrived. I wanted you with me when I announced her presence."  
  
Draco nodded and followed his father to the middle of the crowd. Everyone sensed that something important was about to happen, and within seconds the whole ballroom was quiet. Narcissa elbowed her way to where he husband was and the three Malfoys stood tall, arrogant, and proud in front of the high- class society of the wizarding world.  
  
"Welcome, all, to our little get together," Lucius began. "As you well know, this ball is dedicated to my son and his fiancée, Kaitlyn Lowell." He paused and allowed the guests to clap lightly before continuing on. "Of course, it would be only right to give a lady of such wonderful qualities a proper introduction, so, without further ado, I present to you the future Mrs. Draco Malfoy: Kaitlyn Lowell!"  
  
All eye whirled to the top of the stairs, and many a guest gasped. The girl- no, make that the woman-standing on the stairs surely wasn't the one they had met at the masquerades! For one she was much more pretty-her hair was more shiny-and done up so attractively-her skin seemed clearer and less blemished, her smile was radiant-directed only to Draco-and confident. Her stature was more proper and boasted of her high nobility. The gown she had on only added to her appearance.  
  
It was much different than the gowns that most of the women at the ball had donned. Instead of a skirt the billowed out, hers floated gently around her legs, and the bottom had been enchanted to float around her feet. The color of the dress was an impossible shade of blue, the exact same shade as the sky on a wonderful summer morning, and tiny purple gems had been sewn along the neckline. In her hair was a tiara with the same purple gems set in it.  
  
Kaitlyn Lowell was perhaps at the height of her beauty that night. She might not ever look that wonderful again, but having Draco look at her with such adoration fully compensated that. She was willing to bet her wand that Pansy had never earned such a loving stare. She reached the ballroom floor and began to walk to the Malfoy family, but Draco ran to meet her halfway there. He looped his arm around her waist and kissed her lightly on the lips.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen," he cried, turning to his audience, "I have asked you all here tonight to witness a milestone in my engagement with Kate." He paused and waited for the murmurs to die down. "As you all know, my engagement to Kate is arranged." Draco felt Kate tense and heard Pansy give a triumphant snort. "But as of tonight I'd like to abort the arrangement and make this marriage one of our own free wills."  
  
Draco now dropped to his knee, fishing a small, black velvet jewelry box out of the front pocket of his tuxedo jacket. With one quick flick of Draco's hand the top of the box was popped open to reveal a stunning but tasteful engagement ring. The ring was rose shaped, with a diamond in the middle of the silver blossom and tiny rubies set in the petals. The band of the ring, which twisted and curled much like a stem would, had small emeralds set in it as well.  
  
"Kate," Draco said, and he felt the eyes of every man, woman, and servant present boring into his neck, "will you do my the greatest honor and marry me?"  
  
Tears welled up in Kate's eyes, and she was able to squeak out a happy, "Yes." Draco slipped the ring on her finger, and kissed her with as much passion as could be allowed with so many present. When they finally broke apart Mr. Malfoy told the band to strike up an engagement march. Draco and Kate waltzed together, whispering sweet nothings and giggling like the love struck teens they were.  
  
For one vague second Kate felt a pair of eyes burning into her neck, but when she turned around she found no one had been looking her way. As she brushed aside the incident, and posed for a picture she could have had no way of knowing that Ron had snuck into yet another of the Malfoy's parties, hoping to gain her forgiveness. He left, though, when he saw how happy Kate was. There was no way he could ever make her tear up like that.No way at all.  
  
***  
  
The first time Kate started getting sick was seven days after her engagement ball. Draco had gone away with his father the day before to conduct business in Germany or some country in that region, but not after sharing a bed with her two more nights. Their wedding date had been set soon after the engagement ball-February seventh-and she was just beginning to make plans, so she didn't bother telling anyone that she had thrown up. She threw up the next two days, but by then she was so swamped with buying Christmas gifts-Christmas was just five days away-that she didn't even pause to let herself rest up.  
  
But then her period was late. Kate didn't realize, until two days before Christmas, that she should have gotten her period a whole week ago. Her blood ran cold when she thought of the possibilities. She supposed that Mr. Malfoy and her mother and Draco would be overjoyed if she were pregnant- their parents might be miffed that they didn't wait until they were married but they'd be overjoyed all the same-but there was a fifty percent chance that the child wouldn't be Draco's.  
  
All the wizarding birth tests she bought.They all told her the same thing. That she was indeed with child. But those tests could all be wrong, Kate told herself, so she went to the nearest hospital to get a solid answer.  
  
***  
  
"I'm too young."  
  
Miranda barely glanced up at her older sister. That was the eighteenth time she'd said something like that in the past twenty minutes. She'd long ago given up on asking Kate what it was she was too young to do-as well as Tinkerbell and Sugar-and gone back to playing solitaire.  
  
"I'm way too young," Kate continued. "I shouldn't have had to drop out of school! I shouldn't be engaged." A dry sob escaped Kate's throat. What had once been annoyance turned to concern, and Miranda rushed to hold her sister, who was rocking back and forth. "Miranda," she cried. "I slept with them! I slept with them! And now I'm pregnant."  
  
Miranda almost recoiled from her sister her shock was so great. "What?"  
  
Kate pulled away from Miranda, covering her face. Tinkerbell and Sugar, both of whom had been arguing loudly a minute ago, were sitting silently in the corner, eyes wide with surprise. "I was with Ron the entire weekend," she began. "We slept together a few times, then broke up. I slept with Draco the next day and." Kate trailed off. "And I'm a pregnant whore." She began to cry again.  
  
Miranda sighed and looked at the faeries for help. When none was offered she sighed again and took Kate's hand. "Now Kate," she said, "I'm not going to pretend that what you did was respectable or smart in any way. You just spent little over fifty-hundred-thousand galleons of the Light's money getting Josie, Oliver, and Jesse out of the country. Now you've gone and gotten yourself in the same position." Kate looked amazed at her sister's boldness but listened all the same. "What in the devil's name were you thinking? Sleeping with two men in two days?" Miranda shook her head. "But we can work through this. There's a fifty percent chance that this kid is Draco's, so maybe it'll turn out all right."  
  
"But what about this Weasley fellow?" Tinkerbell asked. "What if this kid pops out and looks like him? Kate will be in deep trouble!"  
  
"Ever heard of spells that can change appearances? There are some out there- certain charms-that'll make someone look like someone else. We could just make the kid look like a mix of Draco and Kate." Miranda squeezed her sister's hand. "It'll all work out, Kate. Things will be easier this time around. You won't have to hide your pregnancy."  
  
Kate could barely return her sister's smile. She had that feeling again-as though something weren't quite right. If only she had known.  
  
***  
  
Draco-contrary to the popular belief-loved Christmas. It was the only time he ever really got to see his beloved aunt, Pernilla Verafux. Her husband had been murdered eighteen years ago, along with her infant son, Philius Jr., and her twin daughters, Octavia and Luciana, just three months before the first fall of Voldemort. Draco had always suspected that his Dark Lord and future Master had had some hand in this-Philius Verafux had been a moral man and had abandoned the Dark Lord that his father had so readily followed-four person murder, but he had never dared to ask his father or aunt. There were just some things that weren't questioned in the Malfoy household.  
  
Lord Voldemort was one of them.  
  
Mrs. Verafux-she insisted that everyone but Draco, Mrs. Malfoy, and Mr. Malfoy should call her that-always arrived Christmas Eve to have dinner, and then spent the night. She was an avid globetrotter, and so she always had gifts from all over the world. However, Draco had not been home at Christmas time for the past two years and therefore he hadn't seen his aunt in a very long time. He really hoped that she liked Kate.  
  
Speaking of Kate, Draco thought to himself, she looks troubled. I wonder what's the matter.  
  
Indeed, Kate looked troubled, nervous-even a little bit queasy. She kept shooting him strange, unreadable looks and rubbing her belly as though she had something precious stored there. She looked wonderful, though, dressed in a flowing red gown with a billowing skirt and off-the-shoulder straps. The dress opened up upon golden petticoats and whenever she turned around Draco could see a flash of ankle. It was surprisingly arousing to him. Maybe he'd luck out tonight and get a special Christmas gift.  
  
"Draco! What the devil are you smirking at?"  
  
A smack to the head and his father's sharp reprimand brought Draco back to the present. He turned to see everyone staring at him, especially his mother's best friend-those attending the Malfoy's Christmas Eve get together were from a selected crowd-Mrs. Violet Guardill.  
  
"Oh, did I miss something?" Draco asked, earning an angry sneer from his father.  
  
"Violet was just telling us how her cousin just died in childbirth. That's a wonderful thing to smirk and chuckle at, isn't it?" Mr. Malfoy's tone was very, very dangerous. He made careful note not to stick to his father's good side for the rest of the evening.  
  
Luckily for Draco his aunt arrived just then, setting his father in a very, very good mood. Out of his seven younger siblings Pernilla had always been Mr. Malfoy's favorite, probably because they were born only ten months apart. Even though she has shied away from him after the death of her husband and children-all the more confirming Draco's suspicions-she and her elder brother were on relatively good terms. After hugging her Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy, and a few other relatives Mrs. Verafux finally reached her nephew.  
  
"Merlin's wand!" she cried in mock shock. "Lucius, your boy's grown up! He looks just like his father now!"  
  
Mr. Malfoy nodded curtly, though Draco could have sworn he saw a proud gleam in his father's eyes. "He does, doesn't he?" he asked before turning to Draco. "Go and fetch Kate, Draco. I want your aunt to meet her now."  
  
But Kate had already heard her name and broke away from where she was talking with Miranda and Jeanette, her sisters. "Mr. Malfoy? You wanted me?" she asked, apparently not seeing Mrs. Verafux.  
  
"Yes, Kaitlyn-this is my sister and Draco's aunt, Pernilla Verafux. Pernilla-I say? What's the matter with you two?" Mr. Malfoy had stopped talking and was looking in between his sister and Kate, both of whom were staring at each other in unabashed amazement. Kate, who before had looked somewhat ill, now looked as though she were going to be sick all over the marble ballroom floor. Mrs. Verafux looked as though she was thinking at an extremely fast rate, making connections and realizing one thing after another. "Well? Have you met before?" By now they had attracted much attention.  
  
Before Kate could possibly answer Mrs. Verafux nodded. "Oh, we've met before," she said, annunciating her drawl and causing Kate to turn a nasty shade of green. "This is the very girl who helped me carry my bags from the bookstore out to my carriage a few days ago. I tried to pay her, but she insisted that it was Christmas and therefore a time to help others with no expectation of a reward in return. A wonderful girl you've got here Draco, a wonderful girl!" Mrs. Verafux said this with such passion that not even her brother thought the unlikely story to be untrue. Kate looked a good deal less sickly, and she actually managed to smile.  
  
"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Verafux. But really, my father taught me always to help out someone in need," she murmured, and only one person present detected the waver in her voice.  
  
"I noticed that you bought 'Of Witches and Warlocks', by Cynthia Gray. She's a favorite author of mine. Lucius, would you mind if I stole this young dear away and picked her mind about the book?" Mrs. Verafux asked, but she had already linked arms with Kate and was leading her towards the stairs. Again, only one person noticed the urgency in Mrs. Verafux's step.  
  
***  
  
"So, young miss, was my nephew not good enough for you?"  
  
Kate was too nerve racked to answer. Never in a million years had she thought that she'd see Mrs. Verafux again. She had been terribly surprised when she heard that Mrs. Verafux was not going to betray her secret, but she was also suspicious. There had to be a hidden motive. Malfoys always had them.  
  
"I believe I asked you a question."  
  
They were striding through the darkened hall of L'enfer now, and Mrs. Verafux had a painfully tight grip on Kate's arm. "It's a long story-"  
  
"I think I know how it went," Mrs. Verafux said. "You came from France a shy, bashful, spineless young schoolgirl. You didn't like Draco, he didn't like you, and so you both sought consolation in the arms of another. The only difference is that you fell in love with this young man, and Draco dumped his mistress. Eventually you fell in love with Draco, but you slept with the first man. Then the first man got tired of being the second man, you broke up, and now you and Draco are doing just fine. He even proposed, of all things!"  
  
Kate gasped. "How did you know?" she asked.  
  
Mrs. Verafux shot Kate a coy smile. "It's the exact same thing that happened to me, with the exception of me coming from France and getting a proposal. The other man's name was Sal Hartman, and I was fool enough to let him-my one ticket out of this dark hell-get away. Now you have too."  
  
Kate couldn't believe her ears. "Aren't you mad?" she asked.  
  
"Annoyed is more like it. Draco's a good boy, and he doesn't deserve to be cheated on, but I did the same thing-I know how you felt-so I'll let it go and forget about it." Mrs. Verafux gasped in surprise when Kate gave her a giant hug.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."  
  
Around the corner, cloaked in shadows, an eavesdropper chuckled silently. "Yes," Peggy hissed. "Thank you.Thank you!"  
  
Never had there been such a devastating betrayal in magical history then when Pegatha Lowell turned her sister in to the Dark Lord.  
  
***  
  
Mr. Malfoy couldn't believe his ears. He didn't want to believe his ears. How could that French tramp have betrayed them so? And how could her mother have encouraged it? Fury was building up in his every muscle, and his face must have looked dreadfully frightful for Peggy stepped back.  
  
"I swear on my father's grave that all this is true. Back in June, when we first came, my mother wanted Kaitlyn to pursue the affections of Ron Weasley, to make Draco jealous, but Kaitlyn fell in love and slept with Ron. I'm sure of it." She shot Mr. Malfoy a cold, calculated look. "Kate's nothing more than a mudblood-lover and is no longer my sister!"  
  
Mr. Malfoy still looked outraged. "Son of a bitch!" he cursed. "That damn whore will break my son's heart! And your mother! Both of them will burn in hell for this!"  
  
Peggy didn't look the least bit unfazed as Mr. Malfoy said this all. Somewhere between having young Amber-Lyn forced upon her and being shoved out of the Kate-Miranda-Peggy circle she had snapped. She wanted revenge, and now she knew had had it. Now Kate had lost not only Ron's love but Draco's as well. Oh, but wasn't this grand?  
  
"Go get your mother and sisters! On the double! And fetch my son as well. I'll deal with my sister later, and I need to alert the Dark Lord. Maybe I can turn this catastrophe around!" Mr. Malfoy sneered into the dying embers of his study fireplace. "We just might have a key to the great Harry Potter!"  
  
***  
  
"Mrs. Lowell," Mr. Malfoy began, and his voice was so venomous that Mrs. Lowell shivered in her thin cotton nightgown.  
  
She stood in front of her eight daughters, all of whom were shivering too, and tried to hold her chin up high. "Yes?" she asked.  
  
"It seems that you have been keeping things about young Kaitlyn from me," he replied, smirking evilly when he saw her eyes widen. "You have traitor among your ranks, it seems. This pretty young mole has just fed me a good deal of information that lands you and one daughter in particular," he turned his penetrating glare upon a stony Kate, "in a heaps of trouble."  
  
Draco, who had been rubbing his eyes by the fireplace, suddenly perked up. "What's all this father?" he asked. "What have Kate and her mother done to anger you so?"  
  
Mr. Malfoy sneered. "Mrs. Lowell has been overseeing your 'fiancée's' secret affair with none other than Ronald Weasley. In fact, my dear son, I do believe that your sweet rose has been around the garden a few more times then she'd like you to believe."  
  
Draco looked horrified. "Father, how can you believe that? It's absolutely not true! Kate was a virgin when we first had sex!" His very bluntness made Kate's cheeks burn in shame, and she felt every eye of every sister upon her. "Tell him Kate! You never had a secret relationship with Weasley, you were a virgin when we first slept together, and you never loved another man." But Draco trailed off once he saw the ashamed look upon Kate's face.  
  
The realizations hit him like a ton of bricks, and every little emotion he felt right then was written upon his face. Pain, confusion, betrayal.Draco felt all that, and yet he didn't once raise his voice. "All those long absences, all those dreamy looks into the sunsets.You were really just imagining Weasley was in my spot!" In many ways the softness of his voice was a million times worse than if he had raged on at her. "I should have known," Draco continued, "that when I made love to you, and you gave me those electric smiles, that you were really just seeing Weasley!"  
  
'Oh, lord almighty!' Kate prayed. 'Don't let him cry.Don't let him cry! I couldn't bear that!'  
  
But it was too late. Two large, wet tears were already falling down Draco's pale cheek. Thankfully, though, he only allowed those two tears to escape before clamming up and turn steely. "You're a slut," he hissed. "The biggest damn whore I've ever known. Just how many thorn pricks have you had, little rose?"  
  
Kate tried to open her mouth in her defense but Mr. Malfoy cut her off. "I wondered that myself, Draco, but it's time for you to go. You and Pegatha go and wait in the library. The Dark Lord shall be here tomorrow evening, and I assume that both of you will be joining his leagues shortly. Am I correct?"  
  
Draco didn't even look at Kate when he said, "Yes, of course father."  
  
Peggy, however, cast a bored look at her mother and sisters before asking, "What's their fate going to be?"  
  
Mr. Malfoy shot Peggy a 'do-shut-up-and-stop-asking-questions' look. "They'll be dealt with adequately. And well, I suppose Marlene should go with you as well. She's had no real role in this, I don't think, and besides-she's engaged as well! So off with the three of you before I change my mind!"  
  
Draco shot Kate one last look-his eyes were filled with cold disgust-before throwing the doors to the hall open and storming out them and to the library. Peggy followed him post haste, and Kate noticed that she was trying desperately not to look back and see the accusing eyes of her family. Marlene was just glad to escape whatever unspeakable dooms her mother and sisters had been sentenced to, and so she plain out ran out of Mr. Malfoy's study. Now only Mrs. Lowell, Amelia, Sophia, Kate, Miranda, Keri, and Jeanette were left. Mr. Malfoy looked them all up and down before turning to face the fire.  
  
"You shall all be kept in the dungeons until tomorrow evening, when the Dark Lord arrives. Don't be fooled-it's damn near impossible to escape from the Malfoy dungeons unaided-and you'll be closely guarded by the Mr. Robert Davies and his father. You will receive no food, water, or bathroom breaks. Having been informed of this you are dismissed." Mr. Malfoy snapped his fingers. Mr. Davies and his son, Robert, Pegatha's fiancé, strode in, tough looks on their faces. Without a word exchanged between any of them the two men led the seven women down to the dungeons, though Robert stopped the procession once and asked Kate what the hell she thought was so funny.  
  
She seemed so amused with herself that she could not give him a straight answer. Only Miranda seemed to be in on the joke. All the way down to the dungeons the two kept muttering about how lucky they were that Sugar had snuck along and that she would get help.  
  
***  
  
It was late Christmas Eve-perhaps even Christmas Day-when a light rap-tap- tapping on Ron's window awoke him. Actually, it wasn't his window. Harry and Hermione, being the dears that they were, had asked him to spend Christmas with them in Godric's Hollow. Ron had been all too happy to accept the offer. Hermione was just barely beginning to show her pregnancy- she was three and a half months along-and all Harry and Ron had done Christmas Eve was joke about how bloated she would come to be. Strangely enough, though, Lee and Cho had been invited to dinner. Cho was two months pregnant, but Ron suspected she was the type of woman who never showed their pregnancy until the last minute. They had taken to the small cottage not too long after Christmas Eve dinner was over.  
  
Ron rolled over in his bed-it was right up against the window being tapped- and gasped. There, standing on the small ledge outside his window, were two faeries. He recognized one of them to be the one he had so luckily captured for Kate, and the other was probably a gift from Malfoy or something like that. Both faeries looked chilled to the bone but at the same time terribly urgent. Ron slid open his window as quickly as possible, and they fell onto his bed, trying desperately to get warm again.  
  
Once they had managed in knocking all the icicles off their bodies the blonde faerie, the one that Ron did not know, looked up at him. "She's in great danger, Kate is. And it's all your fault!" Her bright blue eyes were darkened by anger and fear in such a way that Ron didn't even bother to question if she was lying.  
  
"How's it all my fault?" he asked, frowning deeply. "I haven't seen Kate in days! How could this be my fault? What mess has she gotten herself into now?"  
  
The second faerie, the one he had sent Kate, kicked the first faerie and gave Ron a strained smile. "Hello, Ron. My name's Sugar and my companion here is Tinkerbell. Now that the formalities have been done I believe we can get down to business. The point is that, as Tinkerbell said, Kate's in great danger. You see, her older sister Peggy betrayed her and told Mr. Malfoy about the various fiascos that you two had had earlier on in her engagement to Draco. He was furious of course, and he's locked Kate and her mother and five of her sisters down in his dungeons. The two of us left for help before we could here much else of his plans, but we do know that Voldemort is on the way and that he should be arriving tomorrow evening." Sugar took a deep breath and looked at Ron expectantly. "Well?" she asked, and she seemed oddly eager. "What are we going to do?"  
  
Ron could only stare. "We?" he asked. "What's 'we'?"  
  
Sugar's face dropped and 'Tinkerbell's' face was overcome with a surprising fierceness. "Oh, come on now!" the blonde faerie howled. "Don't you go backing out on Kate now! She needs you more than you'll ever know!"  
  
"Just like I needed her all those times she was off frolicking with Malfoy?" Ron asked, his voice dripping with disdain. "Listen, I sympathize with Kate-I really do! But she hurt me bad, and I can't just forget that!"  
  
Sugar had regained her composure, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, and I supposed knocking a girl up without proper protection is nothing for her to bitch about?"  
  
Ron's face, as well as his arms and neck, turned as red as his hair at the crude comment. Tinkerbell blushed as well, but before she could reprimand Sugar for her brusqueness Ron had opened his mouth to reply. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.  
  
"It's supposed to mean that Kate's pregnant! Don't you see the risks now? If you abandon her now then you're not only giving her the death sentence but also her unborn child!" Sugar looked utterly outraged at Ron's lack of care for Kate.  
  
"But what about Malfoy? It could be his kid too, you know. They've been together, and even you two can't deny that!" Ron too looked outraged. "Listen," he continued, waving his hands in the air. "If you want a hero go find my big brother Bill. If you want a risk taker then my big brother Charlie is your man. If you want two great strategists then why not ask my twin brothers Fred and George? Even uptight Percy could come up with a brilliant rescue plan! I'm not my older brothers, though, so don't ask me to try and do what they've already accomplished!" With that he flopped down on his bed and turned his back away from the window.  
  
"If you're willing to give up that easily then you're the biggest coward I've ever met!" Tinkerbell hissed, but Ron didn't even turn to face her.  
  
"I'm no coward," he replied quietly. "I'm just being smart."  
  
Tinkerbell shook her head in disgust. "This one's no good!" she muttered to Sugar. "Now we should go and find the Lights. I think that they'll help us rescue Kate and her sisters. Let's Warp to France-they originate from there, and I believe I know of a few leaders whom could be of assistance." Having said that she hoisted herself onto the windowsill and spat defiantly at Ron before snapping her fingers and disappearing into the whirling blizzard.  
  
Sugar, however, staid behind, and it was only when Ron turned to close the window that he saw her. They stared at each other a few moments before Ron sighed and asked, "What else do you want?" Sugar only crossed her arms.  
  
"All men," she said, letting icicles form in her hair, "are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty." She paused and gave Ron a look bordering between a smile and a glare before saying, "A man named George S. Patterson Jr. said that, and he was right. If you don't see what effect losing Kate will have in the battle, and if you let your fear of risking your own neck for the sake of love overcome your sense of duty, then you are a coward, and may you always know that." The small sprite rubbed her arms and added, "Also remember this: To face despair and not give into it, that's true courage. Even if you don't see yourself as a hero I know someone who does, and she could care less about what your brothers have done."  
  
And with that Sugar was gone as well.  
  
***  
  
It was pitch black down in L'enfer's dungeons. Kate had been locked in a jail cell with her mother, her youngest sister Jeanette, and her eldest sister Amelia. Kate reckoned that it was about six-o-clock in the evening on Christmas Day, and in the fifteen or so hours that they had been held prisoner in the Malfoy's home not one of them had gotten any sleep. Amelia's loud, pitiful wails had kept her three cellmates awake, and Mrs. Lowell had done nothing but comfort her eldest daughter, ignoring her other two. Though Kate had never been that close to Jeanette she had been the only one there to soothe her silent sobs. Eventually Jeanette had stopped crying and started to whisper with Kate about everything from what must be going on upstairs to boys she liked back at school. The one good things that could ever come out of their imprisonment was that Kate had gotten to know dear Jeanette better. If only she had know how similar she and her youngest sister were; now she feared it was too late to ever form a proper bond.  
  
"Kate?" Jeanette asked suddenly, causing Kate to start. Jeannette had been pretty silent for the past twenty minutes, and she had almost forgotten about her.  
  
Her mind was focused on other more pressing matters, like the whereabouts of Tinkerbell and Sugar. It had been just plain luck that the two small imps had chosen to sleep in Kate's bathrobe pockets that night. When it had started to become apparent that Mr. Malfoy knew Kate's little secret and that things were turning ugly the two imps had suddenly disappeared, though Kate knew where the must be heading: to get help. She remembered that one day, not too long ago, Sugar had mentioned that faeries were able to, with or without their bands, warp themselves until they were practically nothing. Then all they had to do was imagine themselves somewhere different and viola! They were there! But she couldn't tell Jeanette that-she couldn't let her little sister get any hope when there was none.  
  
"What is it Jean?" Kate asked, taking great care to make sure that her mother did not overhear her.  
  
"Are you afraid?" Jeanette asked.  
  
Kate sighed and looked down at her sister, who had snuggled up the ratty hay that had been thrown in the dungeon cell. "Afraid of Mr. Malfoy? No, not one little bit. That man's too afraid of us-I don't know why, but he is- to take any sort of action against us. He's not so worried about 'mother' and Amelia and Sophia as his is about you, Miranda, Keri, and I. I think I might know why he's afraid of me, and maybe even why he's apprehensive around Miranda, but you and Keri haven't had any part in this yet, so I'm not sure why he'd dart away from you like he did in the ballroom this evening, when you brushed up against him on your way to the punchbowl. Am I afraid of the Dark Lord? Maybe. He's powerful, and he could easily kill those we love. Am I afraid of the death sentence we're probably facing? Oh yes, without a doubt. I'm not ready yet, and with my death there are other lives at stake.Truly, Jeanette, I cannot give you a strait answer."  
  
Jeanette couldn't help but stare with admiration at her big sister. "You sound so much wiser than you did when we first came over from France in the summer. You sound like Madame Maxime, you are!"  
  
Kate grinned inwardly and was glad that the shadows were hiding her light blush. She had always wanted her little sisters to admire her as she had admired her older sisters, and it was a nice feeling. "I've seen too much not to have grown wiser," she replied, and then she lay back against the damp stone wall, eyes closed in one last hope to get some shut eye, when suddenly there was a rustling in the hay. Jeanette gave a small yelp, muttering fearfully something about rats, and the two sisters back away from the wall.  
  
Mrs. Lowell and Amelia noticed the shaking hay too and for once Amelia stopped sobbing. "What is it?" she asked, scampering into the corner farthest away from the hay. "Is it a rat?"  
  
Kate shook her head. "It's too big," she whispered, and suddenly the last tiny spark of hope she had got a breath of fresh air, turning into a small flame. "Oh, Jeanette!" she hissed. "I think it's a.Oh, yes!" Kate barely contained her glee. "We're saved! It's a Kneazle!"  
  
Sure enough the creature that had been rustling in the hay was a Kneazle, chocolate brown and very slender. She had just barely fit through the small hole in the stone wall, and when she tumbled out of the hay she shook herself clean before transforming back into her human form. Kate gave a cry of joy when she saw who it was: Felicite!  
  
"Friend," she murmured, putting a cap on her mouth so that the guards would not hear her. "Thank you for coming to rescue us."  
  
Felicite smiled softly. "I'm not the only one here," she said quietly, and no sooner had she said that then two more Kneazles squeezed through the hole. One was snow white with just a stripe of gray on its back, and the other was a deep charcoal black. Within seconds Silas Maire, the leader of the Light, and his wife, Bianca, were standing before Kate and her family, grim looks on their faces.  
  
"Kaitlyn," Silas murmured sadly. "Ze faeries 'ave informed me about what exactly 'as gone on in zis place since you arrived. I do believe zat I'll 'ave a few choice words with Mr. Malfoy when all this is zrough, and we'll find out whom ze father of your child is." He said this quietly enough, though, that Mrs. Lowell and Amelia and Jeanette did not hear. "And do not worry; only those of us on ze rescue mission know of your pregnancy, though your family will find out soon enough." He gave Kate a warm, reassuring smile and turned to Bianca, who was comforting Jeanette, Amelia, and Mrs. Lowell. "Darling?" he asked. "Any ideas on 'ow 'oo get us out of here?"  
  
Bianca-who was from the States-stood and shook her head. "There's no way we can get this little one out," she said gloomily. "She's far too young to have gained the power needed to awaken the Light. And you know, Silas, that the only way out of here is through that little hole." She sighed sadly. "And, while I'm not totally convinced that the mother and eldest sister wouldn't leave, I can sense that Kaitlyn won't move an inch without her little sister."  
  
Silas hung his head down and made an angry catlike noise in the back of his throat. "Damn!" he cursed. "What would my father do? Of course, 'e would not 'ave let things get zis far. Kate and 'er family never would 'ave been thrown in ze dungeons if 'e were alive."  
  
Kate wanted to reach out and comfort him, but then the door opened and there was a scream of anger.  
  
The following ten minutes was nothing but chaos. In the end Kate could discern only the cold hard facts, leaving all the details to fade away with time. She knew that it had been Mr. Malfoy, Draco, and two Death Eaters-all suited up in Death Eater garb-that had opened the door, but she couldn't tell who had screamed. She knew that Amelia had been the only one to change into a Kneazle fast enough to escape through the hole. Kate remembered being herded down the dungeons passageway, and she remembered three other people joining their group, but it wasn't until later that she knew who it was.  
  
The one thing that always staid clear in her mind, however, was being shoved out of the dark dungeons and into the fading sunlight. She remembered being, if only for a few seconds, completely at awe with the brilliant purple and daring orange that painted the evening sky. And then somebody had kicked the back of her knees, and she had gone sprawling, face first, downwards, suddenly finding herself at the hem of someone robe.  
  
Kate knew whose feet she was at, even if she hadn't looked up into his face yet. There was an invisible evil in the air, a sort that could only be found in the presence of Lord. Voldemort.  
  
"Well, if you aren't the pretty little one," Lord Voldemort murmured, bending down and taking Kate's chin in his cold, scaly hand. Kate wanted desperately to jerk her head away, but all control of her body parts had flooded her and she remained immobile in his grasp. "And a tramp as well, if I'm not mistaken." The infamous dark lord chuckled cruelly at his own joke, and his followers were quick to join in with their own nervous laughter. "But all that will have to be laid aside. First we must get down to business; Lucius here tells me that you had an affair with a man by the name of Ronald Weasley. Is this true?"  
  
Kate opened her mouth but no words could come out. She was trembling in fear by now, and she felt like she was trapped in a pit of hissing snakes what with all the Death Eaters encircling her and the other prisoners.  
  
"I asked," Voldemort said, and he sounded angry, "if that was true! You will answer me or you will pay!"  
  
"Yes," Kate replied, finally regaining control of her voice. "That's true."  
  
Voldemort smiled in a way that wasn't really a smile but more of a threatening jeer. "Good," he hissed, and Kate could have sworn that, when his tongue darted out of his mouth, it was forked. "Keep answering my questions and I might let you live." Kate's blood ran cold when he said this, and her eyes widened. Voldemort saw this and sneered maliciously. "After all," he said, and there was so much malice in his voice that Kate shivered, "you wouldn't want to end up dead like your sister, would you? Her name was Sophia, I believe."  
  
Kate could only gasp in shock. True, she had never loved Sophia as a sister, but her death was still terribly saddening. Maybe it was just because she had already lost two sisters this evening, and though Peggy and Marlene weren't dead, they had betrayed her too greatly to ever be forgiven. Behind her Kate heard her mother begin to sob in despair, and even headstrong Miranda was crying softly. Voldemort seemed to thrive of the Lowell's grief, though, and his eyes-red as the fires of hell-shone brighter as the weeping grew more miserable.  
  
After a while, though, he continued his task of interrogating Kate. "Surely if you knew Ronald Weasley," he said softly, "you know Harry Potter."  
  
Kate didn't hesitate to reply, "I do." She paused and then added, "But I haven't a clue as to where he lives."  
  
Voldemort's nostrils-if those two slits could be called nostrils-flared. The dangerous gleam in his eyes made Kate gulp. She had lied, of course, and he knew it. "Oh, but don't you?" Voldemort asked. "Surely your beau took you to visit his friend."  
  
Kate knew that, by lying, she had destroyed any chances of escaping L'enfer alive, but she didn't dare tell Voldemort about Harry. He was the wizarding world's only hope, and she wished with all her might that he would defeat this evil, foul creature standing in front of her. "No," she said, and strangely enough she felt her courage returning to her. "Harry always met us somewhere."  
  
Voldemort's foot flew out and caught her in the stomach. Kate slumped to the ground, but now that she saw that the 'all mighty' Voldemort could lose his cool to a little 'tramp' such as herself, she wasn't so afraid. "Talk wench, or die!" Voldemort hissed, and Kate prayed for a painless death.  
  
"Never," she muttered, and she almost winced when Voldemort brought his wand from out of a hidden fold in his robe.  
  
He lifted it up high in the air, red eyes gleaming with anger, and cried out, "Crucio!"  
  
Kate braced herself for the blinding pain but it never came. It took her only a few minutes to realize that the screams echoing throughout this hall were not hers but those of a Death Eater. The Death Eater fell to the ground and writhed in agony, but his screams were growing weaker. Voldemort, though he knew he was not torturing Kate, kept his wand trained on the mystery Death Eater. He looked so intensely pleased with torturing the poor soul that it made Kate sick. It had only just hit her what kind of monster she was dealing with. Finally, it seemed, Voldemort jerked his wand away from the man-Kate knew that no Death Eater would risk his neck like this man had done for her-and sneered.  
  
Turning to one of his dark minions he ordered, "Remove that mask! I want to know what fool would die for this little filly."  
  
The Death Eater wasted no time in ripping the mask from the man's face. Kate gasped in utter horror when she saw who exactly her rescuer was: Ron Weasley. His normally kind and sweet face was scrunched up in pain and he clutched his side. No one stopped Kate when she scrambled across the floor to her beloved and cradled his head. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stroked Ron's face gently, soothing him and whispering words of comfort. Ron just smiled softly, closing his amber brown eyes peacefully.  
  
"Ah, so Mr. Weasley does still care about you," Voldemort hissed. "He thinks himself to be a hero, a brave savior, and he must be. Not many grown men would take the Cruciatus Curse willingly." Voldemort sneered disdainfully. "But I wonder just how heroic and brave you really are. Could you survive Azkaban, I wonder?"  
  
Ron's brown eyes shot open, and he tried to sit up while Kate clutched his hand painfully hard. Almost exactly one year ago Voldemort and his Death Eaters had raided Azkaban, releasing all the criminal scum and locked away Death Eaters of the wizarding world. The dementors had sided with him as well with the offer of having many new, young people in their jail. These people would have more happy memories to devour, more soul to suck away, more life to destroy. Now Azkaban was ten times as worse as it had been before. Everyone who angered the rising Lord Voldemort was thrown in there and never seen again.  
  
Voldemort smirked. "I didn't think so. But let's see how you'd survive anyway. Crabbe! Goyle! Dispose of him!"  
  
Two burly, masked figures started out towards Ron, wands raised, when all hell broke loose. The Death Eater that had been standing directly behind Goyle launched himself at Goyle, while another stepped out from the crowd and hoisted Kate up onto her feet by her waist.  
  
"Come on," he whispered, and Kate recognized Lee Jordan's voice. "Ron's a big boy, and he can handle himself. What matters now is that we get you out of here."  
  
Kate was too surprised at the sudden rescue to protest. She watched as three more men, all tall and dressed as Death Eaters, herded her siblings and friends towards the double doors that led out into the wrap around balcony. It was not difficult to get outside despite the number of Death Eaters present. There were now ten rebel Death Eaters-friends of Ron's and Harry's, Kate supposed-but the real Death Eaters were having great difficulty determining which was which. Crabbe and Goyle had, much to Kate's delight, managed to confuse each other with the enemy and knock themselves out. Voldemort was going mad with rage. He began screaming for everyone to remove their masks but by now everyone was too caught up in the battle to listen to anyone-even their Master.  
  
Bianca, Lisle, Chevalier, and Silas all staid behind. Felicite tried to tug her secret husband along with them, but he shook his head fiercely. "Felicite!" he cried. "Zer is not enough men 'ere 'oo 'old zem off! We will meet you in five days at ze Connecting Six!" Before Felicite could protest any further Lee grabbed her arm and pulled her along.  
  
As soon as everyone was outside they pelted down the stairs and into the beginnings of a snowstorm. The wind had only just begun to pick up, and the hail and icicles that whirled about the runaways, leaving shallow bruises on everyone's skin, were only the size of small pebbles. Everyone followed Lee-he had shed his mask and hood-but suddenly Jeanette stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
"Miranda!" she cried. "Where's Miranda?"  
  
Lee turned around briskly and gave one last, long stare at L'enfer. "Bloody hell!" he muttered. "I guess I'll have to go back for her then. Kate, I'll find a way to get to this Connecting Six place with Miranda, all right? Now listen, Cho and Hermione are waiting-"  
  
"No," Kate said. "I can't let you do that. Miranda is my sister and so I will be the one going back. Please, Lee, take my sisters and mother and get to the Connecting Six. Miranda and I will join you soon, all right? Felicite, you're strong enough to call upon the Elders, right?"  
  
Kate turned and looked at Felicite with commanding eyes. Felicite could only nod. She wanted to help her friend, but it would have been wrong. She knew-and felt-that Kate was the only one who needed to go back. Lee felt it too for he turned back towards the forest and began walking again, his step tired and weary. Before he disappeared into the woods Lee called out, "Good luck!"  
  
It didn't take the others long to trail into the woods, and Mrs. Lowell even managed to send her daughter one last scornful look, as if everything that had happened in the past forty-eight hours was her fault. Kate tried to ignore the sting that her mother's degrading look gave her, but it was no use. After all this the only person who could really tear Kate up inside was her very own mother.  
  
Shaking her head Kate banished all thoughts of her mother and started back towards L'enfer. The snowstorm was now shaping up to be a blizzard, and Kate was dressed only in a thin nightdress and an equally thin green bathrobe. As she neared L'enfer, cloaked by the darkness and white flurry, she could hear screams echoing throughout the hall in which the combat was taking place. At first she thought that they were battle cries, but then, with a horrible sinking feeling, she realized they were cries of victory. In the course of fifteen minutes her rescue party had lost their fight.  
  
Tears flooded Kate's blue eyes. Chevalier, Lisle, Bianca, and Silas.She had know them all since childhood. And what about Harry and the masked men whose identities were a complete mystery to her? What was to happen-or happening-to them?  
  
"So we meet again."  
  
Kate's head whipped up. There, standing before her, was Harry Potter. A strangled sob escaped Kate's throat and she began to cry as she hadn't since her father's death. "Miranda and Ron," she gasped. "What happened to them?"  
  
Harry's head dropped and he clutched the Death Eater mask. "Only three of us escaped with our lives. The others were captured by Death Eaters and given to Draco Malfoy to do with as he pleased. He left two minutes ago to dispose of them somewhere." There was an uncharacteristic bitterness in Harry's voice that made Kate stop crying. She wasn't the only one in pain that night.But now Harry was hugging her. "Ron asked of me one thing before we came here tonight," he said softly, holding Kate back at arm's length. "If anything were to happen to him I was to watch over you, and I plan to keep my promise." Harry's mournful expression turned serious. "It hurts me too that they're all gone," he told her, "but we need to get moving before anyone sees us out here. Fred's hurt pretty badly, Kate. We need a warm place to lay low for tonight, and then we'll talk about what we're going to do."  
  
Kate got a hold of her emotions-there would be time to mourn properly later- and pulled her green robe tightly around her body. "I'm headed to the Connecting Six, as is Lee and the others. It will take us time to get there, but I have friends there that will shelter us until things die down."  
  
Harry sighed and looked back to two figures straggling along behind him. They both had fiery red hair like Ron's and one was draped over the other's shoulder. "I mentioned before that we'll need a warm place to bed down tonight. Have you any idea of a place that no one's likely to use for the next forty-eight hours?"  
  
Kate nodded slowly. "Come with me," she whispered. She could take them to the manor that she and Draco had almost shared. They would have to stay in the servants' cabins, of course, but she knew that the kitchens were always kept well stocked and that there were some clothes that she could change into. As the four figures crept along-actually, one of the red heads had being carried by the other-Harry whispered the formalities.  
  
"Kate," he said, "this is Bill and Fred Weasley. Fred's stomach got gashed by Mr. Malfoy's dagger, I think. And boys, this is Kaitlyn Lowell. Her sister was the girl who had Oliver's babies, but she was sent away to a Swedish convent." Harry continued to mutter things like that, and Kate began to think that it was a way of reassuring himself.  
  
They ran into no trouble until they reached the woods. Harry, Bill, and Fred had all gotten safely into the woods when there was a loud cry from across the lawns. Kate made the mistake of turning around to see who was outside in the whirling snow with them, and she gasped as a large beam of light cut through the storm and fell illuminated her figure.  
  
"There's another one!" someone screeched, and Kate began to run as fast as she could away from the woods, despite Harry's yells for her to come back.  
  
The blizzard was out of control now and getting worse every minutes. The icicles no longer bruised Kate but gave her painful cuts. Her feet were bloody and numb and her nightdress was torn and ragged. Kate didn't know where she was running or how far behind her the Death Eaters were. She had only just begun to realize how freezing she was and she was almost out of breath. Finally Kate felt that she could give herself a small break and she slumped down behind a lone clump of bushes. She must be near the stable, where such bushes grew. Maybe if she made it a few more feet she could find the stables and get some horses.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
For the second time in thirty minutes Kate was surprised by an unexpected person. This time it was, of all people, Amelia. Her skin was an unhealthy blue color and her lips were so cold that they had turned purple. Kate noticed with a sickening feeling that her sisters feet were black. They might have to be amputated when they got to the Connecting Six.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Kate. For betraying Josephine and following mother so closely." Amelia's voice was so quiet that it was almost lost in the roaring wind, but the words were so surprising that Kate heard her perfectly well.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"I'm sorry, Kate, and that's what. This whole business was a mess, Kate. You don't know the half of what's going on, and I don't think mother does either." Amelia was rambling on, now, and the shouts of the Death Eaters were getting closer. Suddenly Amelia stopped talking and looked over the bushes. There was a strange gleam in her eyes. "Give me your bathrobe," she hissed.  
  
"Are you cold?" Kate asked.  
  
"Of course, Kate! But if they see someone in your bathrobe run in the opposite direction that you run you might have a chance of surviving." Amelia grabbed Kate and tried to tug the green bathrobe off.  
  
Kate, overly shocked by her big sister's act of selflessness, was too amazed to fight. "You'd do that for me?" she asked.  
  
Amelia sighed deeply. "No," she said. "I may be sorry but I'm still self- centered. I'm doing this to redeem myself and try to make up for all the bad I've done. I don't think it'll get me into heaven, but it's worth a shot."  
  
"You won't die!" Kate said. "Just come with me and-"  
  
"Kate, if you ever see Josie again then tell her that I was just afraid of what might happen. It'll answer an important question she once asked me." And with that Amelia was gone, racing off into the distance. Kate heard people begin to yell again, and then one, long, agonized scream that had to have been her sister's. Slowly she stood and moved towards the faint outline of a stable.  
  
***  
  
"Will he live?"  
  
Kate's voice was soft, and Harry could tell that she had been crying. He hadn't expected her to return to the forest-not with so many Death Eaters after her-and he had charged out after her, leaving Bill and Fred safely hidden behind some shrubs. The whirling snowstorm had covered up any tracks and, under normal circumstances, Harry very much doubted that he could have found Kate. But something that night had guided him across the grounds of Malfoy Manor and to the stables, where he had found Kate saddling up three horses.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy hates the horses-it's his wife's real passion though-and I doubt they'll notice if three of the servants' horses are missing," Kate had said hurriedly. "And the servants wouldn't dare complain about losing three strong horses. Mr. Malfoy would curse them from here to the States if they lost such a big investment of his."  
  
Both Harry and Kate had mounted their horses and galloped back to the woods where they found a half-frozen Bill and a barely alive Fred waiting for them. After helping Bill hoist Fred up onto the third horse Kate guided the three men to the manor that the Malfoys had given Draco and she. Currently the four of them were bedding down in a cabin that had been built for the servants, and Kate had only just returned from retrieving clothes and food and making sure the horses were all right. Harry would and should have gone with her but Bill had insisted that he help him fix Fred's wound up.  
  
"Yes, he'll live, but I'm not sure for how long. Tell me Kate, how long will it take to get to the Connecting Six?" Harry asked.  
  
Kate shrugged, wrapping a thick, ermine trimmed black cloak she must have gotten from the manor. "I'm not sure. You see, the Connecting Six is an enchanted place where the remaining six Old Rivers flow into one small lake. It was set up by the Light-I'll tell you more about them later-as a sanctuary for those in great need, among other things. The Connecting Six has no real location, actually. There's no map to tell us how to get there."  
  
"What?" Harry asked, eyebrows arched. "Then how can we find it?"  
  
Kate, for the first time that evening, regained her old smirk. "Oh, Harry," she said, looking out the window and into the raging storm outside, "we don't find it. It finds us. When our need to be at the Connecting Six is great enough then we will be magically transported there."  
  
Harry snorted. "Well, Fred's pretty hurt. I'd say that that was a good enough need-to get him healthy and fixed up."  
  
Kate looked down and the floor and then at the fire, tears misting over her eyes. "I don't control these things," she said, and now tears were streaming down her pale face. Harry had only just noticed the painful cuts and large bruises on her skin, no doubt souvenirs of the storm. "I'm so sorry, Harry," Kate whispered, and he hugged her instinctively. Harry could sense that the breaking point of her grief was soon, and no one knew better than him how healing a good cry could be. "I miss Ron, and Miranda, and Chevalier and."  
  
But then Kate burst into the most mournful sobs he had ever heard. She rolled loose from Harry grip and began to rock back and forth, her face buried in her hands, her whole body hunched up into a tight ball. From the back room of the cabin came a crashing noise, and Bill came rushing out.  
  
"Heaven almighty!" he gasped when he saw Kate. "Harry, we've got to calm her down! The baby-she might harm the baby! Or she might hurt herself!"  
  
"Bloody hell, Bill! I don't know what to do! She's lost half her sisters and her lover in one night! What could we say to calm her? That Ron's in a better place? That her sisters are watching over her?"  
  
Bill threw his arms up in the air. "Well, Fred's in bad shape too. Harry, he lost too much blood! And now that Kate's gone off the deep end-"  
  
"Don't say that about her! How would you feel if two of your brothers turned you in to Voldemort and two more were killed, all in the course of twenty-four hours? Kate's lucky that she's been able to keep it together for so long!"  
  
"Well, Harry, I haven't lost just two of my brothers-I've lost four! Ron, George, Percy, and Charlie were all taken by You Know Who, remember? But you don't see my going mad on everyone!"  
  
Between the angry yells, Kate's grief-stricken cries, and the crackling of the fire no one noticed that the blizzard outside had suddenly gone quiet. Just when things were reaching an explosive end the door to the cabin burst open and three people ran in. The first dove for Kate, pinning her down to the ground. The other two ran for the back room, where Fred had been left unguarded. Harry's first reaction was to jump the person-it was a man- pinning Kate down. Bill gave a wild howl and charged into the back room, only to come shooting out again.  
  
"Harry," he cried, trying to pull Harry off the struggling man. "Don't! It's just Lee! These people only want to help us, Harry! That's just Orfay and Hermione in there!"  
  
Harry stopped long enough to take a good look down at the man he was 'fighting'. Indeed, it was Lee Jordan. With a look of bewilderment Harry climbed off Lee and looked out the open door. It was summer outside the small cabin, and there was no snow, much unlike the environment they had just left. Birds flew along lazily in the deep blue sky and, in the distance, Harry could see a large lake.  
  
"It worked, didn't it?" Harry asked. "Our need to be here-to get help for Kate and Fred-was so great that we were transported here, just like Kate said."  
  
Lee stood up, brushing off his robes-they were made of brown velvet, Harry noticed-shrugged. "I wouldn't know how you all got here. Felicite said there were many ways, but we called upon the Elders of the Connecting Six, and they summoned us here. That was two hours ago, though. Where have you all been? And where's Miranda? And everyone else?"  
  
Harry's head dropped and he heard Lee gasp in horror. "They're dead, all of them," Bill said, looking out the window. Though Bill was not crying like Kate was, Harry was sure that their grief was equal. Lee must have sensed this too for he bent down to pick Kate up.  
  
"She's lighter than she looks," he muttered to himself. Turning to Harry he said, "I have to go and take Kate to her family's home here. Bill, you mum's here-we rounded up all the Weasleys-and she'll look after Kate. Mrs. Lowell-she's the coldest woman I've ever met-locked herself in her room half-an-hour ago and Keri and Jeanette are both asleep. Sugar and Tinkerbell are off lollygagging around, and Felicite's asleep too, but she has her own home." Lee paused. "Did you know she was married to Chevalier? And that she's pregnant too? Three months, apparently. She and I had a big soul talk.She and her husband had so many dreams, you know."  
  
Harry could only nod. "We all did Lee. We all did."  
  
***  
  
Life from then on was, for lack of a better word, bittersweet. The first week after Kate's arrival at the Connecting Six was all a massive blur, and all she remembered from that time was an unbearable grief. Felicite and the Weasleys and her sisters mourned too, but no one could have possibly cried as much as Kate. She had not only lost her lover but her sisters as well- five of them to be exact. Now all she had was Keri and Jeanette. Their mother was too far gone by then-perhaps the pain of losing both Amelia and Sophia was just that overwhelming-to actually be considered a functioning member of the family.  
  
In the end Kate had decided that it was hatred that had saved her, though she never admitted that to anyone. She had felt such a great hatred towards Voldemort, for taking away so many that she had loved. She had hated Hermione and Cho, for having husbands to love and care for them and their future children, and she hated Peggy for betraying them all. But most of all she hated herself for being the one to get everyone into this mess. The hate was enough to keep her alive, as sick as that might seem. The hate was enough to keep her sane, as well.  
  
However, she spent so much of her time hating that her detest for everything soon burned out, and she began to love again. She had once despised the idea of having a child, but now she embraced the idea. This little girl growing inside of her, this little life that she had created, became her new reason to live. Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother, adopted Kate, Keri, and Jeanette as her own. For the first time in her life Kate knew the unbridled love a mother felt for her children, and she promised herself to love her daughter like Mrs. Weasley loved her remaining children.  
  
In the beginning it had been decided that they would just stay in the Connecting Six for few days, until Kate and Felicite and Fred were well enough to travel, but days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Kate knew that Harry had somehow gotten an owl to Dumbledore informing him that all was well and that they were in a safe place. It was eternally summer at the Connecting Six, and so, as the stomachs of Kate, Felicite, Hermione, and Cho swelled in pregnancy, they all enjoyed the everlasting rays of the sun. Orfay Weasley was the perfect midwife and kept them all up to date about their children.  
  
Months passed and all four women gave birth to their babies. There were two boys and two girls: Jeffrey James Potter was the eldest, then came Adrian Chevalier Audric, and then Elizabeth Denise Jordan. The youngest of the four babies was Kate's, and the hardest labor of the four was Kate's as well, but when Orfay had handed her the little bundle-her own flesh and blood-Kate knew every second had been worth it.  
  
Kate named her daughter Liana Mandolin Lowell, after her ancestor, the famous Seer, but called her Ana. She watched Liana grown to a year old, heard her say her first word, saw her take her first step. Orfay once performed a genealogy spell, to find out who was the father, but Kate never shared the results, and perhaps that was just as well. All the Weasleys- Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fred, and Ginny-doted on Ana without reserve, barely caring whose bloodlines she had. Things were good. Too good, maybe. Kate often wondered why they never got letters from Dumbledore, or whether the Death Eaters were still looking for them, but one day all her questions were answered.  
  
***  
  
It was Elizabeth's-or Liza's-first birthday. All the inhabitants of the Connecting Six had gathered to celebrate this event, and the lucky birthday girl had been flooded with presents all day. She and Ana-the two were damn near inseperable-had been giggling in their playpen for the past ten years while Tinkerbell and Sugar watched over them. Harry had taken Jeffrey-or Rey-and Adrian fishing in one of the six Old Rivers for food that night when he saw them.  
  
There were about a hundred men dressed in dark robes with hoods and masks. Harry knew that they were Death Eaters almost immediately-he didn't have time to question how they had gotten into the universe of the Connecting Six-and that they outnumbered the people of the Connecting Six one to three. Harry gave a warrior's cry, alerting the rest of the Connecting Six community, and ran with the babies.  
  
***  
  
"Kate, Felicite, Hermione, Cho, Ginny, Keri, Jeanette, Bill and a man named Sabien were the ones who drew the straws to take the children and jump back to the real universe. Tinkerbell and I were in Kate's side pocket when the nine of them all came back to here. It was late fall when we arrived back, and for a week or two we were totally disoriented. I don't remember much of back then-we all got very sick, and Sabien died-and soon we came to the conclusion that we could not take care of the babies and that we should give them to people we trusted." Sugar finished her story with a deep breath.  
  
"I thought my mother hated Mrs. Davies," Ana said, sitting up and picking blades of grass of her arm.  
  
"She did," Sugar said quietly. "Actually, we left you all in the care of an old friend of Hermione's, Lavender Brown. Lavender was getting married to a man named Seamus Finnigan soon so there was no need to worry that she'd be overwhelmed. Kate gave Lavender a box of things, too, filled with some of her old possessions. The boxes that Tinkerbell and I came in were in there." Sugar paused for a long time. "She really loved you, Ana. She really did, and leaving you almost killed her. She wanted to keep you so badly-you were her world, you know-but she knew that it would be wrong. She and her friends were still weak and sick, and taking care of you not only endangered yourself but the rest of them as well."  
  
Ana was very quiet. So many of her questions had yet to be answered. Where was her mother now? Why wasn't she with Lavender Brown and her husband? Why had Sugar called her the Savior?  
  
Sugar seemed to read Ana's mind for she said, quite quickly, "Death Eaters found out where you were two days after Kate had dropped you off. They raided the Lavender Brown's household, murdered the poor woman, and knocked Tinkerbell and I out cold. That's the last thing I remember, until yesterday, when I woke up in the box Ron sent me to your mum in. I was in these woods, and at first I thought that it was the next day or something. Then I wandered through the trees and came upon a row of cabins. I was drawn to yours-I suppose that was fate-and when I saw you I knew for sure that you were Kate's child, her daughter. I don't know where your mother is, and, truthfully, I don't know how you ended up with your aunt, or why Pegatha Davies never turned you in. Maybe she thought that your powers could help her, but maybe she doesn't know what you're meant to do."  
  
"There you go again!" Ana cried, frowning deeply. "You keep talking about all this 'powers' business and saying that I have a destiny and that I'm a 'Savior'. What's all that about?"  
  
Sugar stopped muttering to herself and ran a hand through her dark hair. "I guess that's the second part of the story; the part I left out. Kate, you now know about the Light. Do you ever wonder why you were named after your ancestor Liana?"  
  
Ana shook her head. "Maybe my mother liked the name," she said.  
  
Sugar gave Ana a cryptic smile. "Or maybe she knew that you were Liana's heir."  
  
Ana arched an eyebrow. "Liana's heir? Wasn't that Alaric or whatever his name was?"  
  
"Elaric," Sugar said slowly, "was male, and men can't ever be true Seers. Liana's heir was to be the sixth daughter of the first string of girls born to the Lowell name. And Ana, believe it or not, for the past thousand or so years, no girls have been born to the Lowell name. And you are the sixth of your parent's daughters, right?"  
  
Ana still wasn't buying into all this 'Seer' stuff. "Well," she said skeptically, "even if I am Liana's heir then that doesn't mean that I'm a Savior."  
  
Now Sugar was giving Ana a look of great respect and awe. "One of Liana's prophecies, Ana, went something like this: Silver and red upon their head, destiny awakens. One will father the chosen while the other was born to die. A crescent moon will mark the chosen, and she will save them all. I have marked my heir, my namesake, and she will be the downfall of all the darkness. Don't you have a crescent moon birthmark? I've seen it myself so don't bother to lie."  
  
Ana rubbed her chest where there was indeed a moon like birthmark. "It's more in the shape of a cloud," she lied. "I'm no Savior. I'm only a maid in the house of my backstabbing aunt."  
  
Sugar shook her head. "No, Ana, you're much more than a maid. When your mother saw the birthmark she called Tinkerbell and I into the tent. Felicite was in there too-she's your godmother-and your mother told us all of an ancient prophecy that had been passed down from generation to generation of Lowells. She said that she had forgotten all about it until she saw the birthmark, and she told us all that we were a part of the prophecies as well."  
  
"Does that mean my father's Draco?" Ana asked. "I mean, Ron's the one who died."  
  
"I'm not sure," Sugar replied. "Did Ron's death have any purpose? Kate never told me who the father was, but I know that it was him that she truly loved. And as I was saying, your mother swore us to secrecy. It was only then that she began to record her diary. I'm sure that Tinkerbell told you a whole bunch of lies about why she was they key to the diary, but the truth of the matter is that Kate asked her to help you when you learned of your real heritage. She asked me to unlock the letters, though."  
  
"Letters?" Ana asked.  
  
Sugar nodded and walked over to the diary. She stood stop it much like Tinkerbell had normally done and soon the diary lit up the darkening clearing. When the glow from the small purple book faded Sugar stood there, four letters clutched in her hand. "One," she said, "is for now. The others will be a gift on your thirteenth, sixteenth, and eighteenth birthdays. I'll leave now if you want to read them in peace. I'll just get our things ready, because we do need to leave soon."  
  
Ana nodded and took the letter that Sugar had extended to her. It was written on nice, golden paper and, even after eleven years, it smelled like jasmine perfume. Ana wondered to herself if it was her mother's scent. Upon opening the letter Ana was greeted by her mother nice scrawl. Slowly she began to read the piece of paper, which was dated a week after her first birthday.  
  
Dearest Ana,  
  
It's nice and sunny out, but then again it's always sunny here. I'm sitting on the rooftop of my home here in the Connecting Six, watching Keri and Jeanette wrestle down in the grass. You're lying peacefully in your cradle, and I am stuck, not for the first time, how much you resemble both of the men who could be your father and myself. You have my eyes, and my hair, and I'd say that you look exactly like me, but you have Draco's lush lips and Ron's adorable expressions. You have Draco's smile as well, or at least a more innocent version of it.  
  
I'll find out who you father is, my daughter, and I will add it into the letter you will receive on your eighteenth birthday. By then, I know, you will be much wiser, and you will be able to use your father's identity to your advantage. I laugh along with the others, pretending that we'll always be happy like this, but I know that one day all our newfound happiness will be shattered. I know-and it pains me to write this-that I will not see you very much as you grow up.  
  
You are Liana's heir, the Chosen One, the Savior. It is my belief that everything that has happened to me in the past few months was all part of the master plan. I'm sure that Harry Potter, the boy who lived, is a part of it too, but you, my darling, are to deliver us all from evil, with the help of Harry's son, Rey. Liza Jordan and Adrian Audric will be along for the ride, too, and you might even find love in Rey or Adrian. I am leaving Tinkerbell and Sugar-you must know them well by now-as your 'faerie godmothers'. They'll guide you through your journey, Ana, and answer all of your questions.  
  
As of now, that is all I can tell you. I know that all this has been quite a shock-Voldemort is probably very powerful now-and I hope you know how much I love you. In case something goes terribly wrong in the future there are some things I want you to have. I'll leave it with whomever we find to look after you, and maybe the things in there will give you some clues. I love you so much, Ana, and I hope we meet again soon. Good luck, be good, and listen to your 'faerie godmothers'.  
  
Love Always, Kaitlyn Lowell  
  
Ana folded the letter and put it in the front pocket of her apron. Sugar was back, now, and moving about the clearing. She was covering their footprints and sprinkling a bag of dust about the ground.  
  
"What's that for?" Ana asked.  
  
"It's pepper," Sugar replied, "and it'll throw off any dogs or magical creatures that are trying to follow our trail." Seeing the worried look on Ana's face Sugar sighed. "Those men who were looking for you yesterday didn't sound as if they were going to give up too easily. They might not come this far into the woods, but I don't want to take any chances. They probably don't know how powerful you're going to become, but obviously you have something that they want. Now would be the good time to make off for the coast. I can tell you my theories on why Rey and Liza were placed in homes, too."  
  
"That sounds like a good plan, but in this letter my mother mentioned a box that contained some old things of hers," Ana said. "I think I know what my mother was talking about. There's a box of things in the attic of Davies Manor, and I'm going back to get it."  
  
Sugar looked up from sprinkling pepper on the ground and gave Ana a strange look. "Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing," she said, "it's always from the noblest of motives. Oscar Wilde, an excerpt from 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. I'm sure you mean well, Ana, but honestly-I would have expected better judgment from you. Your mother's things might hold sentimentality to you, but what's more important? The box or your life?"  
  
Ana, somewhat hurt by Sugar little quote, was far from discouraged. "I know that manor like the back of my hand. Mrs. Davies-or Aunt Peggy or whatever I should call her-has no real security charms up. I could sneak in, get to the attack, and grab a few things from the box. I don't have to have everything but it'd be nice to have something besides this diary to remember my mother by."  
  
Ana gave Sugar a pleading look, but the small faerie staid as stubborn as ever. "No, Ana! If there are any Death Eaters around-and even if they weren't-Davies Manor then you could get into a lot of trouble! It's a bad idea and I won't let you do anything of the sort!"  
  
Ana's eyes narrowed. She wasn't going to be told 'no' by any three-inch wingless faerie. "It's not as if you have a choice," she pointed out, reaching down to scoop Sugar up. "Don't worry. I'll be careful, and we won't get caught! Have faith, Sugar. After all, I am the savior."  
  
Sugar was seething now, but, as Ana had said, there wasn't much she could do. She didn't talk as Ana began to leave the clearing, taking the path that they had used last night, but she could only think of the horrible sinking feeling in her stomach, and how much trouble might be waiting back at Davies Manor. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: Caught!

It took Ana over three hours to find her way back to Davies Manor. Sugar remained stonily silent, her face hard with disapproval, but Ana wouldn't have been in a talkative mood even if the small faerie had been conversational. Too many thoughts and questions still whirled through her muddled mind. Nothing had been clear since her eleventh birthday, when she had first discovered Tinkerbell.  
  
'It was probably all fate that got me thrown into the attic that day. It was probably all destiny that made me throw my shoe so hard at the box. If there even is such a thing as fate and destiny.' Ana snorted loudly at the idea of fate and destiny, startling Sugar out of her icy state.  
  
"Keep it down," the small sprite hissed testily. "We don't know how close we are to Davies Manor or how far Lucius Malfoy is searching for you. I don't want to be captured, understand?" Sugar's tone was so strict and serenely calm that it had tenfold the impact on Ana that it would have if she had raised her voice.  
  
Soon after Sugar's outburst Ana began to recognize the forest scenery around her. Wildflowers began to appear amongst the forest shrubs, a sure sign that she was nearing a break in the woods. Sure enough, by a stroke of luck, Ana passed by the still pond that Mrs. Davies never let anyone swim in. She always mumbled something about the conditions the house came with, or something to that degree. When Ana finally stepped out of the dark forest she was almost glad to see the sight of Davies Manor, looming across the orchard. All the lights were turned on, and even from all the way across the grounds Ana could here the furious yells of her 'aunt'.  
  
Something had happened in her absence.Most likely something to do with her!  
  
"Stealth would be wise at a moment like this," Sugar whispered, and Ana could feel the small sprite tense in anticipation. "There's no telling when or where somebody could pop up."  
  
Ana nodded in the darkness and began to creep out over the expansive lawns that led to the back veranda of Davies Manor. It was late October and the nights were just beginning to lose their Indian summer warmth. The leaves had long fallen from the tress, but Ana was able to find enough coverage from the large rose bushes that Mrs. Davies had planted along the landscape. Despite Sugar's terse warnings to slow down and 'play it safe', Ana reached the servants' entrance to the kitchen within a matter of minutes. Taking a deep breath she stepped inside, praying that there would be no one in the room. Though she highly doubted that Mrs. Davies had told any of the other servants about her running away she did bet that they had all been told to watch out for her.  
  
Luckily, much to Ana's joy, there was no one in the large, toasty warm kitchen. As always, wonderful scents wafted from the oven-there was always something cooking in Davies Manor-and a pot of soup simmered lightly on the stove. As much as she wanted to stay and waft in the magnificent aromas, Ana knew she couldn't. Someone would be in soon to check on the soup. With one last look around the kitchen she had grown up in Ana started toward the servants' exit on the left. This one would take her strait to the fifth floor. After that it would be only two more stories, and she'd be at the entrance to the attic.  
  
Ana was just about to reach for the doorknob when an odd sound stopped her. Turning around she stared at the pantry door. "Did you hear that too?" she asked Sugar.  
  
The small faerie nodded quickly. "Sounds sort of like a muffled scream," she said quietly.  
  
Ana began to move towards the pantry door. "Someone might be trapped in there," she muttered, and Sugar could only fold her arms in annoyance.  
  
Time seemed to stand still as Ana inched towards the pantry. Possibilities of who might be trapped inside flitted through her head. At worst it could be Vivi, a ditzy girl who always seemed to lock herself inside of various rooms. For one hopeful moment Ana's mind strayed to Rey and Liza. Maybe Sugar had been wrong, and Mrs. Davies had just kept them hidden inside the manor. Then the anticipation became too much, and Ana rushed to the pantry and threw the door open.  
  
A surprised gasp rose from Ana's throat when she saw who was really inside the storage space.  
  
Amber-Lyn Verona Davies!  
  
Ana was so surprised, in fact, that she could only stare at her gagged and bound 'cousin' for a few moments. A tiny but effective pinch from Sugar did the trick though, and Ana rushed into the pantry and shut the door behind her. It was nearly pitch black inside when the door was closed, and Ana had some faint recollection that Amber-Lyn had always disliked the darkness.  
  
Slowly and quietly, Ana asked, "Amber-Lyn? Is that really you? Try and say something if it is." There was a muffled screech, and Ana highly suspected that Amber-Lyn had just said something extremely rude. "If I take the gag off will you be quiet and let me ask some more questions?" Again Amber-Lyn made a muffled noise, but this one sounded pleading and desperate. "Okay, here it comes!" Ana undid the poor knot holding her 'cousin's' gag together. As soon as the piece of old, starchy cloth fell to the ground Amber-Lyn began to spit.  
  
"Oh, how disgusting!" she moaned. "That was the man's handkerchief, and he had a cold! Oh, oh, oh!" She continued her moans and groans for the next five minutes before calming down enough to regain her senses. "It's you!" she gasped. "Oh, wait until my mother finds out you've returned! It's all your fault that I'm in here, you know! Mother and those men all think that I helped you escape!"  
  
Ana scowled in the darkness. She could hardly believe that Amber-Lyn was related to her! Instead of saying what was really and truly on her mind, Ana snorted and said, "So that why you're in here.Your wonderful mother thought you were a turncoat!"  
  
Even in the darkness Ana could see the ferocious sneer on Amber-Lyn's face. "Oh, be quiet you! It is your entire fault I'm here! Mother was furious yesterday when you escaped, and she blamed it all on me!"  
  
"Why do I matter so much to all of them?"  
  
Amber-Lyn sniffed resentfully. "I'm a turncoat, remember?" she asked. "They told me nothing. All I know is that yesterday evening those three men- Lucius Malfoy and his crew-came up to the manor and started yelling at mother for letting you escape. Then they all went into my mother's office. They stayed inside for about an hour, then mother came rushing out and grabbed me by the ear. She shook me about and asked me where you were, and she wanted to know how I found out that we were cousins." Amber-Lyn snorted. "Frankly I think she's gone temporarily mad. I mean, as if I'd help you in any way. And us being cousins? I mean, that's a load of bull right there!" Amber-Lyn stopped dead when she heard Ana cough uncomfortably. "My mother's full of it, isn't she?" she asked.  
  
"I'm afraid not," Ana replied. "Our mums were sisters."  
  
"But then why did my mother never tell me that? You're lying! If our mothers were sisters then why haven't you lived properly with us? My mother treats you horribly! She'd never treat her own flesh and blood like that!" Amber-Lyn took a deep breath, no doubt to calm herself. "Besides, mum only has one sister-Auntie Marlene."  
  
Ana massaged her temples. "Your mother has eight sisters: Amelia, Sophia, Marlene, Josephine, Kaitlyn, Miranda, Keri, and Jeanette. Amelia, Sophia, and Miranda are dead. Josephine is, um.at a Swedish convent, I guess, and Kaitlyn, Keri, and Jeanette are all missing." Ana decided to wait until later to tell Amber-Lyn about her real mother.  
  
"You're a bloody liar!" Amber-Lyn hissed. "And I'll prove it! I swear, you'll be sorry when my mother finds out your back!" Before Amber-Lyn could open her mouth and call for her 'mother' Ana had tackled her, sending the two of them flying back into the depths of the pantry.  
  
By now Sugar was ready to take control. As Ana wrestled along the pantry floor, her hand clamped firmly over Amber-Lyn's mouth, Sugar tumbled out of Ana's apron pocket and stood in the middle of the hustle, tiny arms crossed over her chest and eyes blazing with anger. "Would you two please SHUT UP?" she screeched. Both Ana and Amber-Lyn stopped struggling instantly. Faerie- wise, Sugar had an extremely good pair of lungs, and her yell was loud enough to come from either one of them. "Now, you listen here, Ms. Amber- Lyn Davies," Sugar hissed. "You two are acting like foolish little children! Don't you understand what is at risk here? If those men get a hold of you two then you're done for!"  
  
The meaning of her words sunk in to both girls. Still, Amber-Lyn protested, "But we're girls. And my mother-"  
  
"Death Eaters don't give a damn what sex you are or who your parents might be! If you've made them mad then they're going to get you, no matter what!" Sugar's tone was so grave and gruff that Amber-Lyn shut up immediately. "That's better. Ana, we need to get out of here. I don't care how much you want your mother's stuff. I know where she stored a few things, and we'll grab those. Amber-Lyn, you'll come with us. And that's an order, not a suggestion." Amber-Lyn remained silent, which Sugar took as a sign of agreement. "And you two had better start to like each other. Your mothers were close, you know."  
  
"They were close," Ana corrected. "And I don't mean Josephine, either."  
  
"Who's Josephine?" Amber-Lyn asked. "Wasn't she one of my mother's alleged sisters?" The tone in her voice betrayed that she was still in denial.  
  
"Should we tell her?" Ana asked.  
  
"I suppose.It's never going to be good news to her, you know. There are going to be many questions and a lot of hurt.Especially when she finds out where Josephine is." Sugar had found her way back to Ana, and the young girl dropped the faerie back into her pocket. She heard Amber-Lyn's inhaling and exhaling only a few feet away, and she hoped that her 'cousin' would be too shocked to attack her when she found out about her real parentage. All of a sudden she felt as though all the energy had been sucked out of her. Maybe her mother's tale and her supposed future was finally getting to her.  
  
The silence had gotten to Amber-Lyn, though, because she asked in an exasperated manner, "What are you two talking about? Tell me what? And what's all this talk about Josephine?"  
  
"Amber-Lyn, I have a little more news about your-I mean our family." Ana surprised herself by calling Amber-Lyn by her first name. She had never done that before, for fear of getting punished, but maybe now that she had run away and knew her past none of the Davies' authority had any affect over her anymore. "Your mother-Pegatha Davies-isn't really your mother." There was a sharp intake from Amber-Lyn, but Ana talked on. "Josephine is your biological mum. It's a long story to tell, but I'm telling the truth."  
  
A dry sob came out of the darkness. And then Amber-Lyn's wavering voice snarled, "You little wench-you're bloody lying! My dad would never cheat on my mum! He.He loved her!"  
  
"Oh, honey," Sugar said. "Your father."  
  
She trailed off, but Amber-Lyn got the picture. "You're both damn liars! My mother is the woman who has loved me and cared for me for my whole life! My father was Robert Davies, and nothing you say can change that!" Amber-Lyn seemed to be assuring herself of her parentage rather than assuring Ana and Sugar. Her voice was near frenzied at this point, and Ana scooted away from her 'cousin' instinctively. "I'm a Davies! I'm fully pureblood! My mother is Pegatha Davies, and she comes from the Lowell family! I can handle you being my cousin, but I'll never believe that my mother didn't give birth to me! Not until I hear it from her own lips!"  
  
The silence was broken by the loud slam of the door to the kitchen. "Marlene! Thank Merlin you arrived! Lucius Malfoy has been poking around, and he wants Ana! The little snipe has up and disappeared. I think Amber- Lyn helped her, though. How else could Ana know to run? Mr. Malfoy assured me that he was only kind to her when he took her around the grounds today."  
  
There was a lengthy silence before another woman-Ana recognized her voice to be that of Marlene Lowell MonDougal, her 'aunt', whom she knew from Davies' family gatherings-replied, "Well, you said the cabin was a total and complete fright. The few times I've seen Ana I've noticed that she was bright, very perceptive, like her aunts Sophia and Miranda were. She could probably tell that the mess was created in a mad fury, and, very frightened, she ran into the woods."  
  
"But do you think she knows her mother's story? Do you think she knows that we're her-"  
  
"Aunts? Probably not.But there might be a small chance that Kaitlyn left Ana some sort of memory ball around.something that could store various clips of her life." Marlene struck Ana as the analytical type, very logical in her thinking, unlikely to lose her cool.  
  
"Where would this memory thing be hidden? How could Ana have found it?" Mrs. Davies had lost her somewhat frenzied tone and now sounded curious.  
  
"Well, most likely it was left around your manor."  
  
"My manor? Why?" Mrs. Davies sounded doubtful now. "Did she know what was coming?"  
  
"Probably not," Marlene said slowly, as if she were trying to piece some great puzzle together. "If Kaitlyn left something around for Ana-and that's a big if-then she probably left it here because she thought she'd be married to Draco and living in the manor they built."  
  
Marlene's last comment caught Ana by surprise. "What does she mean, living in the manor they built?" she asked in a terse, whispered voice. She didn't have long to receive an answer to her question.  
  
"Don't give me that look! Dragon Malfoy wanted me to have his estate. Something about wanting one of Kaitlyn's sisters to watch over the place. It's not like I took the place to spite her." Mrs. Davies sounded guilty, and a hot flash of outrage flew through Ana's blood.  
  
It wasn't enough that Pegatha Davies had turned her own little sister into Lord Voldemort. It wasn't enough that she treated her own niece like absolute filth. No, no, no! She had all the nerve to take her sister's manor and give it the name 'Davies'. This estate, with its twelve private gardens, five marble fountains, a two-hundred-thirteen room manor, and three stately guesthouses could very well belong to she, Ana Lowell.  
  
The very thought was enough to send her charging into the kitchen, ready to face whatever her aunts had to bring on. However, a tiny nudge from Sugar kept her from losing her cool, and within a few moments Ana was content to merely listen again, though just barely. Mrs. Davies was talking now, asking something about what this 'memory object' could have looked like.  
  
"Oh, any matter of things," Marlene replied. "A ball, a pensive-"  
  
"Or a diary," Mrs. Davies interrupted in a strange voice. "Kaitlyn started keeping a diary when she was nine. She must have had fifteen little books hidden around the manor back in France. You'd never have guessed that they were her diaries, though, because they were always worn and sometimes ratty. Every year or so she, Miranda, and I would all go down to the local thrift shop-we borrowed maid's clothing so we wouldn't be noticed as noble ladies-and we'd route around until we found a diary we could enchant to become a pensive of sorts. Then we'd go to the large park by the deli-don't you remember the one?-and have a small picnic while we dreamed of the future."  
  
It took Ana a few moments to realize that Mrs. Davies was reminiscing and that she sounded almost regretful. Marlene must have noticed her sister's unusual emotions as well because she asked quite icily, "Reliving the past? Honestly, Pegatha! This is above you! We are no longer 'Marly' and 'Peggy'. We are Marlene and Pegatha. We have no time to dream of our future because our future has already been decided for us. It was decided the moment Lord Voldemort burnt the Dark Mark into our breast. We are his Seers, and you are one of the foremost advisors to Queen Valicent. This is what we were put on this Earth to do."  
  
There was a long pause before Mrs. Davies asked, "Do you believe that with all your heart and soul, Marlene?"  
  
Marlene snorted. "Don't be silly, Pegatha. I don't have a heart and soul."  
  
That seemed to remind Mrs. Davies of exactly who and what she was. When she spoke next she sounded like the Mrs. Davies Ana had known since she had arrived at Davies Manor all those years ago. "Of course," she muttered, and Ana sensed rather than felt Amber-Lyn shudder. She had probably never heard her mother like this. "Come on now, we've got to wake Amber-Lyn!"  
  
"What? How do you know she's asleep?"  
  
"Oh, believe me-she's asleep. I trusted that new fellow, Finius Paulson, to drug her sufficiently." There were footsteps now, coming towards the pantry door, and before Ana had time to hide or tie Amber-Lyn back up, the door was flung open to reveal Mrs. Davies and a dangerously pretty blonde woman, no doubt Marlene. Mrs. Davies looked rather surprised to see Ana hiding with her untied 'daughter', but Marlene just sneered rudely.  
  
"This is what happens," she said coldly, joining her younger sister at the pantry door, "when you trust Death Eaters to do anything. They don't put up enough guard and soon you've got little spies."  
  
Mrs. Davies nodded slowly. "Yes. I'll have to see that Paulson fellow properly tortured for his mistake." She ignored Amber-Lyn's gasp of horror and continued. "But his blunder did bring us dear sweet little Ana. How sweet of her to turn back and help free her cousin."  
  
Marlene crossed her arms and squinted. "They both look like their mothers, don't they? Ana has Kaitlyn's dark blue eyes, and Amber-Lyn has Josephine's green ones." Amber-Lyn let out a choked sob, and Marlene turned to Mrs. Davies. "Well, Pegatha, should we tell them? After all, Amber-Lyn deserves to at least know who her real mother was. We might as well. If we don't then Ana will."  
  
Tears were streaming down Amber-Lyn's face by the time Mrs. Davies replied, "Very well. I'll tell them what they 'deserve' to know." Turning to Amber- Lyn she said in a short, curt voice, "I'm not your mother; I'm only your aunt. Your mother was my elder sister Josephine. She was engaged to Robert Davies, but she went off and had a torrid affair with a man named Oliver Wood. She had twins by him, and you're the one who survived. Your mother was sent off to a Swedish convent for girls who disgrace their families, and it was made to seem like I had been carrying you.  
  
"After the downfall of Harry Potter I went to the Dark Lord and told him bits and clips of the real story. I didn't tell him who your real mother was, but I did say that you weren't my own. He destroyed your birth certificate and made it seem like I gave birth to you after his full rise. I've watched over you and mothered you ever since." With a cold and unfeeling smile Mrs. Davies crossed her arms. "But now you've betrayed my trust and helped your cousin. Whatever use you had for me earlier is gone now that you have done that." Turning to Ana she sneered. "As for you, Ana, I've gotten orders to send you to work in another house as a nanny. Amber- Lyn will accompany you, and she will be your assistant. Your new mistress will be arriving soon. I advise you both to stay here and keep quiet until she arrives. Mr. Malfoy and the Death Eaters do not know of this arrangement, and it is possible that, if they do find out, they will owl the Dark Lord begging for a harsher punishment. This is my last gift to you Amber-Lyn."  
  
Mrs. Davies seemed finished with the two, but Ana wanted to know more. "Can I ask you just one thing, Mrs. Davies?" Her voice didn't betray a bit of the rage built up inside of her.  
  
"Very well," Mrs. Davies hissed, turning around.  
  
"How do you live with yourself when you know you were the reason for the deaths of five of your own sisters?"  
  
Mrs. Davies just smirked cruelly before countering Ana's question with one of her own. "Don't you mean six, dear?" she asked. "What makes you think that your mother was the only one to escape?"  
  
Ana let out a pained gasp, and she slumped back into her dark corner. Amber- Lyn was too caught up in her own revelations to care much about Ana's pain, but Sugar whispered quietly, "I'm so sorry, Ana." Maybe things wouldn't have been so bad if Mrs. Davies had just stopped after that one last hurtful comment. But she hadn't.  
  
"I myself sent out the band of Death Eaters that got your mother. She and her friends were ambushed not three hours after leaving that Lavender Brown woman. We tortured the lot of them and left them for dead. Well, we did keep that Bill Weasley fellow around for a few days. How did you think we got your 'secret' location? Bill Weasley was your official Secret Keeper, and once we pressed the right buttons he led us right to you. After that we disposed of him as well." Mrs. Davies rose to her full height and made her dark eyes flash. "Come Marlene. We have to prepare for her."  
  
Just as suddenly as they had flung open the pantry door Mrs. Davies and Marlene were gone. As soon as the door was slammed shut Ana burst into mournful sobs. Though she had known that her mother was probably dead there had still been a faint glimmer of hope that she might one day live a happy life with her mum. And the way that her mother had died.Murdered and tortured and who knew what else, all at the hands of Death Eaters. It suddenly struck Ana that Mrs. Davies had never really answered her question.  
  
How could someone live with themselves after turning most of their family in to Lord Voldemort?  
  
'She's probably such an evil person that she doesn't even care,' Ana thought darkly, burying her face in her hands.  
  
"Ana?" Sugar asked. "I know this is tough, but remember: grief is itself a medicine. Quoted by William Cowper. Grieving is all good and well, but eventually you have to get up and decide what you do. I'm sorry about your mum, and believe me-it's hurting me too. But we have to think about how to stay alive and how to stay safe." Sugar's voice dropped a notch and she leaned out of Ana's pocket and towards her right ear. "Besides, your cousin's pretty down in the dumps too."  
  
"She's not my cousin," Ana snapped, and a little too loudly at that, for Amber-Lyn, who had stopped crying a few minutes before, snorted.  
  
"As if I'm happy about our relation," she snapped, and Ana cheeks burned in the darkness.  
  
"I didn't mean to-"  
  
"Oh, just be quiet," Amber-Lyn snapped. "You sit in that corner feeling so bad for yourself, and you want the world to mourn with you. I bet you have all these opinions about my mother." Amber-Lyn paused and allowed herself a wry chuckle. "Yes, in ways Pegatha Davies is still my mother. She raised me from the time I was born up until now, when I'm almost twelve, and that's more than I can say for Josephine Lowell and Oliver Wood."  
  
"Well," Ana said curtly, "at least you have a 'mother'."  
  
"Yeah, because yours up and left you!"  
  
SLAP!  
  
Amber-Lyn cried out and clutched her cheek. Though it was near pitch black in the pantry Ana knew that there was a red handprint imprinted on her 'cousin's' cheek. Sugar was reprimanding her in a harsh tone, but Ana was too furious to hear the sprite's telling off. It had taken eleven years of taunts, rude faces, and condescending remarks, but Amber-Lyn had finally gone too far. It had hurt bad enough to find out that her mother was dead but for Amber-Lyn to imply that she had left her.  
  
"Like mother, like daughter," Ana hissed in an attempt to hurt Amber-Lyn in return. "Oh, wait-Pegatha Davies isn't your mother!" She was rewarded when Amber-Lyn let out a pained gasp, but her satisfaction was cut short when her 'cousin' began to sob without reserve.  
  
"Why?" Amber-Lyn asked. "Why is this happening to me? I was a faithful servant in training to the Dark King. I was my mother's favorite child, even if my father-well, he isn't really my father, I suppose-hated the sight of me. God, there was even talk of engaging me to Prince Titus Riddle! Do you know what that would have made me? The Queen of Darkness! Lord.Now I'm going to be a maid, just like you!"  
  
Despite the obvious insult Ana couldn't help but sympathize for Amber-Lyn. In the course of one night her entire world had been destroyed. Her mother had abandoned her, her riches had been taken from her, and she had been reduced to the position of a parentless nanny. Any friends Amber-Lyn might have had would now desert her, and her three younger sisters would have little to do with her. The world in which Amber-Lyn called her home would now turn against her and force her to serve them.  
  
With a deep sigh Ana wiped away her own tears and rustled around the shelves of the pantry until she found what appeared to be a bottle of butterbeer. In her entire eleven years Ana had only been allowed the luxury of butterbeer twice, and she almost smiled to herself as the sweet liquid ran down her throat. Amber-Lyn snatched the bottle out of Ana's hands when she offered her a sip. For the next forty-five minutes or so the two girls attempted to eat and drink away their miseries.  
  
Somewhere in this process they both fell asleep on the hard wooden floor of the pantry, forgetting their differences and curling up close together. Sugar even took the time to pull an old, worn blanket off one of the shelves and drape it across the girls. It always amazed her how the most haunted of people could look so innocent when they slept. Both of these girls, with destinies so great, looked so peaceful while they slept. Maybe they didn't yet have an idea of how dangerous things were about to become for them.  
  
"Our destiny commands us," she whispered into Ana's ear, "even when we do not yet know what it is; it is the future which guides the rule to our present. Quoted by Friedrich Nietzsche in 1878. Goodnight, little Savior."  
  
***  
  
Ana suddenly found herself standing in a small drafty room that was the size of her room in the cabin. The room was narrow and the light was dim due to the lack of windows, but Ana could see clearly the rows of beds lined up on the walls. She counted sixteen beds in all-eight to a wall-and in each bed there was young girl. The girls were all uniformed in what appeared to be starchy white nightdresses, and their bedspreads were a collection of tattered red quilts. Most of the girls were asleep, though a few of the elder ones were still reading, but it wasn't any of them who caught Ana's eye.  
  
As she strode down the row of beds, frowning scornfully at the unkempt conditions, she was drawn to the bed at the end of the row. It was on the left side of the room and scrunched up against the wall, and on the end of the bed there hung a nameplate that read 'Claire'.  
  
Claire was short and hadn't yet lost all her baby fat. Her hair was an inky shade of black, and her eyes, which were fixed on a picture, were dark blue, much like Ana's. In a way little Claire reminded Ana a great deal of herself, only, as a child, she had never been chubby. As she watched Claire's blue eyes examine the picture over and over again she began to develop a fondness for the little girl.  
  
"Mummy," Claire whispered quietly, and Ana strained her ears to hear what the little girl had to say. "Why did you leave me here? Didn't you love me? I hate it here at the orphanage. I wish I had known you. All the girls here make fun of me.And I'm so lonely." Claire began to cry then, jolting a memory hidden deep in the caverns of Ana's mind. She had been here, in this room, one time before. It had been much darker, she recalled, and this little girl, Claire, had been sobbing outright. Then memories of the other dreams-the one with Maria Juanita Riddle, and then the one with Nicholas Lowell-came flooding back to her.  
  
To herself she wondered if these dreams were real and if there really was a Nicholas Lowell. She would have to ask Sugar about the dreams if she awoke and still remembered them. This could mean that her 'aunt Peggy' had been lying.And that her mother might yet be alive. Once again Hope coursed through Ana's veins, and she felt as if she should give this little girl hope as well.  
  
Gently she reached out and touched Claire's cheek lightly. Instead of recoiling at any contact from Ana, as she had done of their previous meeting, Claire touched her cheek softly and stopped crying. She became drowsy after that, and Ana herself pulled the covers up around this little girl's body. Just as she had expected, the moment Claire shut her eyes she was gone, in another world.  
  
***  
  
This time she was in a dark, cool, circular bedroom. The walls were made of black granite and the floors of shiny marble. The room was almost bare, save for a lone green sitting chair in front of a fireplace carved into the stone walls and a grand four-poster bed, also with covers of green. In the bed there lay a man, though all Ana could see of him was his pale blonde hair, almost like the sliver of silvery moonlight that streamed in from the gap in the green curtains. As curious as ever, Ana walked slowly towards the bed, peering into the shadows that the canopy cast over the man's face. Suddenly, though, the man rolled over in bed, and Ana threw her hand to her mouth to contain a scream.  
  
This man was Draco Malfoy!  
  
He looked older and more brutal than the memories of her mother's diary, but his face was younger and less stony than that of his father's. All in all Ana considered him to be handsome, and she could see traces of the charm that had snared her mother. She had seen him once or twice before, when Mrs. Davies had not been able to shove her into a closet fast enough, but he had never noticed the scrawny little servant girl, and she had never had a reason to stick around and get a better look at his face.  
  
But now, this man, Draco Malfoy, might be her father.  
  
Not that Mrs. Davies would ever let her see him. In fact, Ana thought as she inched closer to the sleeping man, she'd probably work totally against it! Having Draco Malfoy find out that he had been a father for ten years could set him off. Then again, from all the reports that Ana had heard, 'D. Malfoy' was the King of the Cads and an all around womanizer. He didn't seem the fathering type. With a deep sigh Ana reached the bed and sat on the foot of it. Draco snoozed on calmly, or as calmly as anyone in his position ever could.  
  
Tiring of watching 'D. Malfoy' sleep, Ana stood and made her way over to the large window that covered nearly half of the circular room's walls. The dark, forest green velvet curtains were pulled together tightly, but still, a small sliver of moonlight had managed to shine through. Ana merely eased the crack in the curtains open more, so that she could see the night sky.  
  
Ana was surprised to find that the light streaming in from the window was not moonlight but a light coming from a glowing silver dome high above the courtyard below. Draco Malfoy's house was shaped like a horseshoe and made entirely of smooth black granite, like his bedroom. Eight menacing looking gargoyles sat at various positions along the half-circle roof, and the courtyard on the ground level had a large statue of what appeared to be a tall, nobly dressed man, possibly Lord Voldemort.  
  
But Ana barely noticed any of that. Her eyes were still trained on the large globe. Nothing suspended it, so it must have been held in the air magically. There was something entrancing and soothing about the globe, and Ana felt hypnotized. There was something about the globe.  
  
Squinting, Ana thought for a second that she saw a dark form move inside of the globe. Trying to get a better view she pulled the crack open wider, but the sash holding the curtains closed fell off in the process and the curtains fell open, bathing Draco's room in a white light. There was a groan from behind her, and Ana turned around to find Draco Malfoy sitting up in his bed.  
  
Shielding his gray eyes against the new light Draco frowned at Ana. "Kate?" he asked. "Is that you?"  
  
Ana, unsure of what to do, backed up towards the window until her body was pressed up against the cool glass pane. "No," she whispered softly, just loud enough for Draco to hear. Then, even softer than before, so that Draco wouldn't hear her, Ana murmured, "I'm her daughter."  
  
Draco frowned deeply. "You look so much like Kaitlyn."  
  
Ana shut her eyes for the edges of the picture in front of her had began to fade to black. Soon she would wake up, away from all of this. Opening her eyes once more Ana found that the blackness had almost totally obscured Draco's room. She did, however, get one parting glance at her possible father's pale face. Written on his somewhat pointed features was an expression that Ana would not understand for years to come.  
  
And then, thankfully, she knew no more.  
  
***  
  
Ana awoke abruptly and unpleasantly when there was a sudden crash outside the pantry door. Amber-Lyn was already awake, sitting in one of the corners, and Sugar had been resting in Ana's apron pocket. For a moment Ana forgot all about her dream and scrambled to press her ear up against the pantry door.  
  
"Lucius Malfoy! You son of a bitch! How dare you! How dare you!"  
  
It was Mrs. Davies, and she sounded furious. Ana, for the first time that night, was thankful that she was locked in the pantry. She had been on the receiving end of Mrs. Davies anger just enough to know what a hellcat she could be if provoked.  
  
"Blast you, woman! You nearly hit me! What are you so upset about? I merely questioned if-"  
  
"It's none of your business, that girl's past! How dare you go into my room and try to find information!" Mrs. Davies screeched.  
  
"Well, can I help but be curious? I only know that the Dark King wants her under his watch, in one of his wives' houses! He also wants to know her past! Are you going to deny his Lordship that information?" Mr. Malfoy sounded just as angry. Ana was chilled to hear his voice after hearing him speak of her mother like he had the day before.  
  
"Well, then, if you must know Ana's mother was a no good harlot! Ana was a child fathered by one of her married clients, and she needed to get rid of the little whelp. The other two children, Jeffrey and Elizabeth, were both born under similar circumstances. Merlin knows how such a child ever inherited the powers that she did." Mrs. Davies tone had calmed down a bit, and her voice was so sure of herself that, had she not known the real truth, Ana might have believed her 'aunt's' story.  
  
"It is a wonder that that little snipe could have any power at all. Do you have the foggiest idea of who the father is? She might be the illegitimate child of a high-ranking Death Eater." Mr. Malfoy sounded rather convinced of Mrs. Davies's story himself.  
  
"I never even knew the mother's name, much less the name of Ana's father," Mrs. Davies snapped. "Now be quiet and help me get the girls prepared. Do you know yet who is going to take them?"  
  
There was a small grunt from Mr. Malfoy as he strode towards the pantry. "I do. Both Ana and Amber-Lyn will go to live in the household of Roxena Riddle Marjoni. They will nanny over Duchess Marjoni's children."  
  
Mrs. Davies snorted rudely. "Duchess Marjoni? That whelp was nothing but a filthy-"  
  
She was silenced suddenly, and Ana sensed that a third party had entered the kitchen. By now Amber-Lyn had ventured to join Ana by the door, as had Sugar, and the three of them listened as a pair of high-heel clad feet clicked across the floor. It was as if both Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Davies had forgotten how to speak. Finally a new voice, sharp and undeniably female, broke the silence.  
  
"I believe you were going to say that I was naught but the daughter of a whoring courtesan." The woman, who must have been the Duchess Marjoni, chuckled softly in a cynical manner. "Being a Seer to Queen of Darkness certainly permits you to be loose with your tongue, Mrs. Davies. I would be a fool indeed to invoke her anger by punishing you, and, considering how upset she is over my daughter being named an heir, I think that very unwise."  
  
"You have grown rather conceited yourself," Mrs. Davies hissed, "since the King of all Darkness plucked you off the streets."  
  
Mr. Malfoy used his better judgment intervened before either woman got too angry. "Duchess Marjoni," he said, no doubt coming to stand between the women, "what a pleasure to see you again. I hear that you're expecting a child again. A son, I believe?"  
  
"Yes, I am. My first boy, too. Perhaps the Dark King will turn his eyes towards his new son, as well as the daughter I gave him. That would make me even with the Queen of Darkness, now wouldn't it?" Even though she couldn't see through the door Ana could tell this woman was smirking haughtily. She could also tell, from experience that Mrs. Davies was nearly boiling over with fury.  
  
Thankfully Mr. Malfoy intervened once again. "Pegatha, why don't you go gather the girls' belongings. I'll introduce Ana and Amber-Lyn to the Duchess as soon as you leave."  
  
Mrs. Davies snuffed and huffed, but Ana heard her stomps travel away from the pantry until there was a slam of a door. "Thank goodness she left," Sugar whispered. "That woman's terrifying when she's angry enough." Even Amber-Lyn couldn't argue with that.  
  
"Now, Duchess Marjoni, where were we?"  
  
"You were just about to introduce me to my new nannies. They're only eleven, though. That is a tad bit young, isn't it?" Footsteps approached the pantry door. Ana and Amber-Lyn crawled back to the farthest wall and staid there.  
  
"Well, Amber-Lyn is almost twelve, and Ana's been a nanny for ages. She's watched over the three youngest Davies girls and sometimes guests of the Davies," Mr. Malfoy explained.  
  
"Really? Well, my husband requested this, so I suppose it's all for the better. Now tell me, what do I call them? I address all my servants by their last names, and I was told that, as of present, these girls have none."  
  
There was a short pause before Mr. Malfoy replied, "I have no idea. Perhaps you could make up your own."  
  
"Or perhaps I could let them choose for themselves. Quick, Mr. Malfoy. Open the door and let me ask these girls what they wish to be called," Duchess Marjoni commanded.  
  
Mr. Malfoy did so with great haste, and suddenly the candlelight of the kitchen filled the pantry. Ana was temporarily blinded by the brightness, but when she could see again she found herself staring at a tall, regal looking woman. The woman, dressed in expensive looking royal blue robes, had smooth, tea colored skin and deep, kohl outlined black eyes. Her hair was pinned up on her head in a loose, jaunty style, and, where a rose would normally be pinned, there was a single hawk feather. Ana had often heard from the servants of those who visited Mrs. Davies that the Duchess Marjoni was the most beautiful of the Dark Lord's wives. Looking upon the Duchess herself, that was not hard to believe.  
  
"So, you are to be my new nannies," Duchess Marjoni purred.  
  
She seemed so soothing, so kind, that Ana was not afraid to look her in the eyes and reply, "Yes. I'm Ana, and this is Amber-Lyn."  
  
Duchess Marjoni seemed surprised by the boldness but pleased at the same time. "Tell me, Ana, is there a particular last name you'd like to be called by?"  
  
Without thinking Ana replied, "Lowell." There was a sharp intake of breath from Mr. Malfoy, and he narrowed his eyes at Ana, so she added, "It was the last name of a heroine in a book I once read to one of Mrs. Davies daughters." Mr. Malfoy stopped looking so suspicious, but he did un-narrow his eyes.  
  
"You can read?" Duchess Marjoni asked. "Not many servants can read."  
  
Now that Ana thought about it, there weren't many servants who knew how to read. She, Liza, Rey, and the oldest servant at Davies Manor were the only ones who could in Mrs. Davies household. "I had to read stories to the girls," she explained.  
  
"Interesting," Duchess Marjoni murmured. "Do you know any magic?"  
  
"Not much. Mrs. Davies didn't like her servants carrying wands."  
  
"Not many people do. I, however, will require you to learn some defense spells in case any.rogues try and harm my children. Especially Senna. You'll not be nannies in my household, really, but handmaidens to Princess Senna." Duchess Marjoni turned to Amber-Lyn. "And does this one have a last name?" she asked.  
  
"Wood. Ms. Amber-Lyn Wood."  
  
Ana held in her shock and watched as Duchess Marjoni nodded. "Ana Lowell and Amber-Lyn Wood, my newest employees. Very well, girls, we must get going. I brought around a simpler carriage for you to ride in, and your carriage will follow mine to my castle, Blackenvire. It's not a long journey, only about four hours, and but it'll be something like three in the morning when we arrive." The Duchess began striding towards the door. "Have Mrs. Davies send over their things in the morning, Mr. Malfoy. I'll need no clothes-I have outfits that they can wear-but if they have anything else then, of course, I'll need them."  
  
Ana and Amber-Lyn followed their new mistress, making long strides to keep up with her fast pace. Mr. Malfoy caught up with them and talked in hushed tones with Duchess Marjoni. Sugar poked her head out of Ana's apron pocket and began whispering in a barely hearable voice.  
  
"The Duchess Roxena Riddle Marjoni," she began, "has attracted many whispers over the past few months. I don't know much about the woman, but I do know that she's the mother of one of Voldemort's heirs, Senna Marleya. When we get to her castle I'll try to find out about her mother, the alleged courtesan."  
  
Amber-Lyn looked with narrowed eyes at Duchess Marjoni before saying, "I can tell you about her. The Duchess's mother was a famous and, from what I hear, a beautiful concubine on the streets of Mardentine."  
  
"Mardentine?" Sugar asked.  
  
"That's the city where the Dark Lord's main castle is. It's the center of the magical civilization," Ana explained.  
  
"As I was saying, Duchess Marjoni's mother was a woman that hired herself out as a mistress or a concubine to various high-ranking and important men of the city. Her.talents reached the ears of none other than Lucius Malfoy, and he visited her in her small home at the outskirts of town. The Duchess's mother-her name is Lyris-Medea-wasn't home at the time, but her three lovely daughters were. To make a long story short Mr. Malfoy presented the three girls to the Dark King, and he chose Roxena Marjoni to be his wife.  
  
"She's given him two daughters so far, and now the son, but Princess Senna is amazingly powerful, or so I've heard. Her father, the Dark King, wants her to become a Sorceress! You have to be bloody powerful to be able to do that!" There was a little awe in Amber-Lyn's voice, as well as a little gloom and anger. "And we'll have to be her servants, her slaves! I was Amber-Lyn Davies-I ran with the best of them!-and now I'm just some stupid nanny!" Glaring at Ana she added, "And it's all your fault!"  
  
Sugar clucked her tongue when she felt Ana tense, and the rest of the walk to the carriages was spent in silence. As the two girls approached the carriage the Duchess slowed and turned to them. "I'll not see you until this Wednesday, when Princess Senna will dine in my chambers. She does so once every week, but Mrs. Goodwin, the Head Servant, will inform you of all the rules. Don't cause any trouble, and I won't have to get rid of you." Looking back at Davies Manor Duchess Marjoni said, "You'll find that I'm a bit softer on my servants than people such as Pegatha Davies." She shot a pointed look at Ana and turned to her own carriage. "You are dismissed!" she called over her shoulder.  
  
Ana pulled Amber-Lyn, who had staid haughtily where she was, towards the much simpler carriage. Opening the door she stepped in, followed quickly by her reluctant companion. Amber-Lyn was looking cautiously around the small carriage, a disgusted look on her pretty features.  
  
"Is this contraption sanitary?" she asked.  
  
Ana, who had closed her eyes, pretended to be asleep. She had only ever been off the grounds to Davies Manor twice-and that included her runaway attempt-and she wasn't about to let Amber-Lyn spoil her first carriage ride either. Duchess Marjoni seemed very well-mannered for a wife of the Dark Lord, and, even though she was still a servant, Ana wondered if things would not be easier this way.  
  
She would get meals regularly. She would have a roof over her head. And it would be easy to eavesdrop in a place as big as Blackenvire Castle. Perhaps she could find the whereabouts of Rey and Liza and Tinkerbell.  
  
Eventually Ana drifted off to sleep. She curled up in the corner diagonal from the one Amber-Lyn was sitting in, and she did not see the tears falling down her 'cousin's' cheeks. Sugar did, however, and her heart went out to Amber-Lyn. Carefully, so as not to awaken Ana, Sugar crept out of the apron pocket and bounded over to Amber-Lyn's side of the carriage. Using some of the little faerie power she had left she soothed Amber-Lyn to sleep, singing a soft lullaby in her native tongue.  
  
Once Amber-Lyn was asleep Sugar climbed up to the small window at the back of the carriage. It had begun to rain just a few minutes ago, and tiny water droplets hit the window every second. It was a lulling sound, and, despite her slightly maternal instincts that told her to stay awake and watch over the girls, Sugar herself drifted off into dreamland. 


	12. Chapter Twelve: More Plans

Ana's first sight upon awakening was the tall turrets and stone guard-walks of Blackenvire Castle. She couldn't help but give a small gasp. Blackenvire was so much grander and larger and more elegant looking than Davies Manor or anything she had ever seen before. Davies Manor alone could have fit into Blackenvire's cobblestone courtyard, and Ana couldn't help but wonder if things were just better this way.  
  
Maybe Sugar had been wrong about the whole 'Savior' bit. Maybe those dreams weren't at all real. Maybe she could work her way up amongst the line of Duchess Marjoni's servants, and maybe.  
  
Ana shook her head sharply.  
  
In that one moment she had shown her greatest weakness yet: want.  
  
Setting aside the images of the pampered life of a handmaiden, Ana stared down into her lap. She had to find Liza and Rey. There had to be someone somewhere inside the castle's dark depths that had heard of her friends. And then she needed to plan an escape.  
  
Easier said then done, she knew.  
  
Ana was not the type to formulate extravagant plans. She did things as they came to her, using the best possible resources she could locate at the time. It would be hard enough to sneak out of the castle alone. But no, she needed to bring Amber-Lyn along as well. And then she'd have to find a way to make sure they weren't caught, and then she'd have to make her way to the locations of her friends, and so on and so forth.  
  
Ana closed her eyes as the carriage pulled into the alcove in front of the stables. The door flew open of its own accord, and she took it as a sign to step out. She was careful to scoop a still sleeping Sugar into a pocket before any other servants came around, and, with a small grin, she flicked Amber-Lyn on the nose to awaken her. With an angry curse thrown Ana's way, Amber-Lyn stretched ceremoniously and followed her out of the carriage.  
  
"And it's about time you all arrived." A warm, syrupy voice startled Ana and caused Amber-Lyn to jump. They turned around quickly to see a portly, elderly woman in a thick woolen shawl and a long gray dress standing on the far side of the carriage. She looked kind and motherly, and she was smiling, so Ana felt instantly at ease with this woman. "Now, what would your names be?"  
  
"I'm Ana," Ana said, "and this is Amber-Lyn."  
  
"Ana and Amber-Lyn," the woman repeated. "Lovely names.Maybe a bit too lovely for servants, but I'll deal with that later. What would your last names be?"  
  
"Lowell and Wood."  
  
"Lowell and Wood, eh? So you two aren't related?"  
  
Before Amber-Lyn could say anything stupid Ana answered, "No. But we get that a lot. People think we're sisters sometimes." Shooting a look of mock annoyance at Amber-Lyn Ana added, "But I can't see why. I'm so much more beautiful than this one."  
  
A little conceited, maybe, but it did the trick. The women stopped looking suspicious and introduced herself. "I," she said, "am Marie Connelly. You will address me as Mrs. Connelly in the presence of the Duchess, the princesses, and their company, but while we're alone please do call me Marie." She gave Ana and Amber-Lyn a warm smile and wrapped her shawl around Ana's shaking shoulders. "Winters coming, darlings. We had best get inside the castle where it's nice and warm."  
  
All too happy to comply with the wish, Ana and Amber-Lyn clambered after Marie in the darkness, and to their new home.  
  
***  
  
Marie showed the two girls into the castle, up four flights of stairs, down six corridors, and finally to a small, paint chipped door. "This," she said, "is your rooms. It's large and grand for a servant's quarters, but you're to be the handmaidens to the princess, so you have to look like you fit the job." Marie handed Ana a key and continued with her speech. "Each morning at six you'll be woken by a buzzing in your rooms. After the buzzing awakens you, rise and wash yourselves. Eat and dress after that, then come to the princess's quarters. Once you are there help the princess wash, dress, and prepare for the day. You'll be equipped with an itinerary at all times, so you'll know where to go and what to do. Of course, the first morning I'll help you along with things, but after that you're on your own."  
  
Ana nodded as Amber-Lyn made faces. "I understand, Marie. Thank you for your help. We'll be off to bed now, to catch some rest before the buzzing wakes us up."  
  
Marie nodded and set off down the hall. Ana watched her go before she turned and opened the door to her rooms. She waved goodbye to Marie, and she began to make her way towards the tiny rooms in the back that must have been the bedrooms. Marie had been right about the rooms being "large and grand" for a servant. It was much more elegant than the cabin back at Davies Manor, but Amber-Lyn turned her nose up at the room.  
  
"This is where we live?" she asked snootily.  
  
Ana sighed and nodded. "It's nice for a servant, Amber-Lyn, so don't go and mess things up with your mouth. You can be a real cow to live with, and I won't have you verbally attacking anything in this castle. It's too risky."  
  
Amber-Lyn seemed shocked. Ana was willing to bet her life that no one ever talked to her like that. "I still hate you," Amber-Lyn said after a long silence. "And it's all your fault we're here. If I can't yell at those I 'serve' then I'll yell at you!"  
  
Ana shook her head scornfully as Amber-Lyn stormed into one of the two small bedrooms. Sugar was well awake now, and she too watched-and heard-as Amber-Lyn ranted about everything. "That one's going through a tough transition," Sugar muttered.  
  
"And I suppose we'll have to take her with us when we run," Ana muttered, starting off towards her own room.  
  
"You're not that kind of person, Ana," Sugar replied. "You'd take Amber-Lyn with you even if she wasn't your cousin."  
  
Ana opened the door to her bedroom-a warm, lavender colored room with a small bed and a nice fireplace. "Believe me," she muttered. "That's the last reason I'm bringing Amber-Lyn."  
  
Sugar shook her head and climbed out of Ana's pocket. Using unusually nimble moves the faerie clambered up Ana's apron and onto her shoulder. "Have you even thought about escape?" she asked.  
  
"It seems impossible," Ana admitted.  
  
"I'm sure it seems that way," Sugar said, "but you're a smart girl. You roll with the punches. You'll think of something, and you'll find a way. I have good faith that you will."  
  
Ana shed her apron and climbed under the covers. "Faith," she chortled. "I could use some of that."  
  
Sugar sighed and looked at her young goddaughter. "Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light," she said softly. "That was said by Helen Keller."  
  
Ana seemed to ignore Sugar's quote. "Do you really believe that my mum's dead?" she asked out of the blue. Sugar floundered for a few moments before finding a suitable answer.  
  
"Well, you're aunt-"  
  
"Perhaps you do not understand my question. Do you think my mother's dead?"  
  
Sugar looked at her hands, at the ceiling, at the door-anywhere but those questioning blue eyes. "Yes," she answered after squirming for a few seconds. "How could she be alive?"  
  
Ana shrugged. "I don't know, but I think that she is alive." Her tone grew more serious by the moment. "Sugar, I have these dreams, you see. In these dreams I see people and things that are far, far away. Sometimes these people can see me, and sometimes they cannot. One of the people who can see me said that his name was Nicholas Lowell. He was living with his foster parents, both muggles, and he said that he had two half-sisters, girls named Jenny and Ana. His mother gave him a letter that told him all this, and he said that one day his sisters would come to get him."  
  
Sugar had stopped squirming, and she looked extremely interested. "Dreams?" she asked. "You have dreams about other people?"  
  
Ana nodded. "I've had ones about a small girl named Claire, and I've had a dream about a girl-who, I might add, looked exactly like me-and even one about Draco Malfoy."  
  
Sugar suddenly began clapping. "Bravo, Ana," she said. "I'm very impressed."  
  
Ana was confused. "Impressed about what?" she asked.  
  
"Your dreams. Only a few Seers have the power to Dream-See."  
  
Ana raised her eyebrows. "Dream-See?"  
  
Sugar stood up and began pacing back and forth. "Dream-Seeing is only one name for the talent," she said. "There are other more official terms, but I think that Dream-See says it all. That's what you do, isn't it? You see real events in other parts of the world through your dreams."  
  
Ana had begun to understand the concept. "So I can see anything in the world when I sleep?"  
  
Sugar shook her head. "It's not the simple. You see things pertaining to yourself, or you see things that could help you to solve something. You see people that could prove to be important or useful to you in the future as well."  
  
Ana thought for a moment. "Could I dream into the future?" she asked.  
  
"No," Sugar answered. "No one, not even Seers, can dream into the future because the future is never a sure thing. You can dream into the past though, on rare occasions, because that might help you along on your mission."  
  
"But do you think that boy was telling the truth? And how come he could see me?"  
  
Sugar smiled. "He's still young enough to believe in magic, Ana. He's probably lonely there with the muggles, and he's looking for anything that could lead him to his sisters."  
  
"Draco Malfoy saw me as well," Ana added.  
  
"Did he now?" Sugar seemed surprised. "Well, I suppose he's thinking a lot about Kate these days. I don't know why, but he is. Maybe his guilt is growing, or something like that."  
  
"So, back to my original question. Do you believe my mother was alive?"  
  
Sugar shrugged. "I'm not sure now. We know that Kate lived long enough to give birth to two more children. We know that she couldn't take care of your little brother, and that the same probably goes for your sister. But most of all we know that Pegatha Davies was wrong. She said that the Death Eaters left your mother for dead. They must not have properly checked your mother, and maybe other as well. For all we know everyone in that crew could still be alive."  
  
Ana was wide-awake by now. "But what about Bill Weasley? He's dead, right? I mean, Mrs. Davies said that they disposed of him too."  
  
Sugar seemed to be as wired as Ana. She was holding her chin in her right hand, and her face was fixed in an expression of deep thought. "Well, now I'm wondering about everything your aunt told us. There's a small chance that they might have just tortured Bill and left him for dead as they did your mother. There's a small chance that he too got away from the attacks." Sugar took a deep breath and locked eyes with Ana. "Of course, there is the possibility that your mum died after giving birth to Nicholas. She did, after all, tell him that his sisters would come to get him, not she herself.  
  
"And we must wonder why, if she'd been kicking for the last ten years, that she hasn't sought you out and reclaimed you." Ana inhaled sharply at the implications of the statement. "Ana, darling, I know that your mother could have overpowered Pegatha Davies and taken you back if she tried hard enough. And Ana, if she were alive, she would do that. Either she died, and that's why she hasn't gotten you, or she." Sugar trailed off, unable to continue.  
  
"Or she abandoned me," Ana said softly. She looked as though someone had punched her in the stomach. "You think either that, or she's dead. Just come out and say it."  
  
"I believe that there's a large possibility that she's still living," Sugar said hastily.  
  
"Yeah, I know that. It's just that you believe she'd given up on me and my brother and sister. You think that she's given up on the wizarding world. You think that she's off living some other life." Ana paused to snort scornfully. "I bet you even think that she's married another man and has her own new, perfect family."  
  
Sugar could find no reply to this. She couldn't deny a word Ana said. She knew in her heart that Kate would have come after her daughter by now, if she were truly alive. Ana allowed a few moments of silence to let her words sink in. Then she was off again.  
  
"Do you want to know what I think?" Ana asked quietly. There was a certain air to her tone that made Sugar feel even smaller than she was. "I think that you have too little faith in my mother, and too much faith at the same time. You think that she'd give up so easily on me, on my brother, on everything she believed in. But you think too highly of her at the same time.  
  
"My mum was no superhero. She was only human. Isn't it possible that she's tried to rescue me, but that she's failed on numerous occasions?" When Sugar didn't answer Ana went on. "Isn't it possible that my mother doesn't know where I am? Why would she have reason to believe that the very sister who betrayed her would keep her child alive? She could be looking for me, but in all the wrong places."  
  
There was a new light in Sugar's eyes when she continued Ana's train of thought. "She might not even know where you little brother is," the small sprite murmured. "Or maybe Nicholas is some sort of key to finding you. Kate must have known that you'd eventually begin dreaming of your little brother.  
  
"She probably also knew that keeping him with her was a danger to them both, so she put him up for adoption or something to that degree. She knew, though, that one day you'd come looking for Nicholas, and that when you reach him you'd go looking for her." Sugar snapped her fingers. "That's it! Nicholas must have some sort of puzzle piece to finding Kate. Maybe that letter of his says something that leads us to Kate."  
  
Ana nodded. "So not only would she regain the daughter she had lost, she'd also get her little boy back."  
  
"And you'd both be at ages where it was safer to have you two around. You two wouldn't be infants or toddlers so you wouldn't need constant supervision. After that she must have had some sort of plan on how to keep you two safe."  
  
"Us three, you mean," Ana corrected. "You're forgetting my sister Jenny. She'll probably get the same idea and come after Nicholas as well."  
  
"That way," Sugar said, "even if she died before you three arrived, you would have each other." The faerie chuckled softly. "Kate was so, so, so much smarter than her mother believed her to be. If things had been different than she would have gone on to do great things in this world."  
  
Ana was getting sleepy again, but she asked, "Who's to say she isn't? Maybe she's one of those radicals that the Death Eaters are all after."  
  
Sugar looked sleepy too. "You're probably right," she agreed.  
  
A strange peace had come over Ana. "When we get out of here I want to go and find my little brother. Then, if my sister hasn't found him yet, I want to locate her. Together we'll work as a team to track down our mother."  
  
"You have things planned out, don't you?" Sugar asked. "What about Rey and Liza?"  
  
Ana frowned. "I had forgotten about them. I guess I'll have to save them first. Liza's pretty brilliant, so I'm sure she'll find a way to get Nicholas to me safely. And it'll be nice to have Rey along as protection. Tinkerbell will probably have some answers too."  
  
Sugar made a face and snuggled up in a fold of the sheet. "That bimbo will pretend she has ideas just to get attention."  
  
Ana smiled. "She's a good person. I think you two would like each other if you gave each other a chance."  
  
"Don't even start.I like her about as much as you like Amber-Lyn."  
  
Ana's face fell. "Darn. I had forgotten about her."  
  
"So had I."  
  
Ana pulled the covers up around her shoulders. "She's not going to like any of this, is she?"  
  
Sugar yawned, and her voice was now reduced to a tired whisper. "Probably not. In fact, she might not even want to go with us. She might want to part ways after we escape."  
  
"I suppose I'll cross that bridge when we get there," Ana muttered.  
  
"You do that," Sugar added. Sleep was overtaking the faerie, and soon both she and Ana were fast asleep.  
  
***  
  
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!I  
  
A loud, persistent, never-ending buzz drew Ana out of her deep slumber faster than you could say 'magic'. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was, but then the memories of the night before sank in, and she yawned sleepily. Sugar was not by her side, but Ana was not worried. The faerie was probably scouting the castle for leads as to where Liza and Rey might be.  
  
The buzzing stopped after two minutes, and Ana swung her legs over the bedside as soon as the sound went away. She made her way to the bathroom slowly, scratching her head and pondering the new day. Secretly she wondered if Princess Senna was anything like the Davies girls. She shuddered at the thought and climbed into the shower. After washing her hair with a wonderful smelling conditioner, Ana climbed out of the shower and dried off. She returned to her room to find her uniform but when she opened her closet she was surprised to find an array of pastel colored dresses.  
  
The garments were simple, of course, but Ana was still enchanted. She ran her hand over the fabric-so much softer than anything she had ever worn-and finally settled on wearing a light blue dress with a violet sash and lace on the ends of her sleeves. She pinned her hair up in a bun as well, and, after slipping into a pair of simple black shoes, she went into the kitchen.  
  
Amber-Lyn was there, dressed in a smock of pea green and with her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. Ana ignored Amber-Lyn's look of contempt as she entered the kitchen, and, instead of returning the rude hand gesture, she began eating an orange from the fruit bowl on the small dining table. Her thoughts were focused on the conversation that she had held with Sugar last night, so she gave a small start when the door behind her slammed shut, and Marie came in.  
  
"Good morning, ladies," Marie said, and she had a jovial presence about her that put even Amber-Lyn at ease. "I'll show you to Princess Senna's rooms now, and I'll give you her daily schedule as well. You'll have a map of the castle too, so you won't get lost while escorting her Majesty around." After pausing to let Amber-Lyn finish her apple Marie continued to speak. "Now, if you're both ready, we should start off towards the princess's rooms."  
  
For such a plump woman, Marie could move very gracefully and very fast. Ana had to give an effort to keep up with her, and so did Amber-Lyn. Finally, after making several turns down several corridors Ana and Amber-Lyn arrived at two large, ebony doors. They both turned to Marie for their next orders.  
  
"Now, both of you look sharp and bow the moment you enter the princess's rooms. You bow to her-and any of the Marjonis, for that matter-whenever you enter a room with one in it. You will always address Princess Senna as Princess Senna. This afternoon the Duchess will give you wands, and I'll teach you spells to protect the princess from those who wish to harm her.  
  
"Another thing you should be aware of is that Princess Senna is never wrong, or so she likes to think. Never ever tell her otherwise, or your life might very well be ended. Along the same lines, never talk about her father to her. Some could consider such actions treason, and that could lead to executions or banishment. I'll take you in, now, and I'll introduce you to her, but after that you're on your own." Marie stopped talking and produced two cards and two rolled up scrolls to Ana and Amber-Lyn. "These are the daily itinerary of the princess, and these are the maps of the castle. Follow the princess's schedule very carefully, unless you want a good beating." With that one last warning Marie opened the double doors and stepped inside the princess's chambers.  
  
The splendor to be beheld inside was unlike any Ana had ever seen. It was almost too much, really. Tapestries hung from every wall, and rich, dark colors dominated everything. The rugs were thick and plush, and, as Ana followed Marie up a staircase, she felt her feet sinking into it. Murals that moved decorated the hall leading to the princess's bedroom, and they all whispered and pointed as Ana and Amber-Lyn passed by.  
  
Finally, however, Marie stopped walking in front of another large door. She made a motion that probably meant 'be quiet' and eased the door open. Ana followed Marie into the bedroom on tiptoes, and she gave Amber-Lyn a venomous glare when she purposefully kicked the door. The three servants made there way over to a large, iron bed with the drapes pulled tightly around the four-poster frame. Curtains made of dark, heavy material covered the three large windows, and Ana was struck by how dark the room was.  
  
Marie went over to the first window, Ana went to the second, and Amber-Lyn to the third. Each of them opened their curtains at the same time, and light flooded the room. The sky was downcast, and it was raining, and the weather put a sudden damper on Ana's mood. She turned around quickly, though, when there was an annoyed groan from the bed.  
  
The curtains were pushed open, and a pretty face poked itself out. Senna Marjoni Riddle had her mother's tea colored skin and her father's cold green eyes. She shared her mother's strong nose, but the rest of her features were those of her father's. She was delicate looking, but Ana knew better than to be fooled. She knelt quickly, and she pulled Amber-Lyn down with her.  
  
"Who are you two?" Senna asked, raising an eyebrow in a truly sinister manner.  
  
"These two are your new, personal handmaidens, Ms. Lowell and Ms. Wood. They are gifts from your father, and they are here to serve you," Marie said softly, working carefully so as not to look the princess in the eyes.  
  
Senna's face perked up, and she seemed strangely happy for a daughter of Voldemort. "Oh, wonderful!" she muttered in a pleased tone. "Daddy finally came through on his promise! Oh, Ms. Connelly, he's been promising me my own handmaidens for two years! I suppose they're early birthday presents, too." She stepped out of bed, wrapped a thick bathrobe around her tall, lean form, and she looked haughtily at her new servants. "Go and draw my morning bath, Ms. Wood, and Ms. Lowell, make my bed."  
  
Both girls did as they were told, and Ana followed Senna into the bathroom where Amber-Lyn stood rigidly. "Your bath, princess," Amber-Lyn said softly, and Senna nodded approvingly before shedding her bathrobe and stepping into the immense bathtub. She paddled around her tub for a few minutes before commanding Amber-Lyn to shampoo her hair, and Ana to conditioner it. The next fifteen minutes were spent pouring various flower scented oils into the princess's bath water before Marie came in and suggested softly that the "princess get started getting dressed, for her grandmother does not like to be kept waiting".  
  
"Of course," Senna said in a regal and pompous voice. "Ms. Wood, fetch my bathrobe. Ms. Lowell, be quick and pick something out of my closet, preferably something pink. My grandmother's favorite color is pink, and every time I wear it she gives me a nice present."  
  
"Yes, Princess Senna," Ana murmured softly, and she left the room and followed Marie to a small door made out of ivory.  
  
"This," Marie said, "is the door the princess's personal wardrobe. I'll give you the key to it since I'm sure you already know how to dress a lady of stature properly." The portly woman paused carefully before adding, "And, if you don't mind, I'll give you the key to just about everything else to do with Princess Senna. That companion of yours doesn't seem to be too sharp in the ways of the world. In fact, I'd wager a guess that she's been someone important up until now."  
  
Ana didn't bother to tell Marie that Amber-Lyn had, in fact, once been somebody important. Gossip like that could damage Amber-Lyn's favor with Senna, and that wouldn't be well at all. Instead she nodded, took the key, and walked inside. Luckily for her the dresses were arranged by color, and so she found a nice, pinkish-mauve dress made of satiny material right away. After finding a matching corset and hoops for the skirt, Ana returned to the bathroom.  
  
Thankfully Amber-Lyn had not strayed from her duties in her absence, and she was just finishing drying off Senna's dark hair. After combing out any tangles Amber-Lyn stepped back and watched Ana lace up the corset, slip on the under dress, arrange the petticoats, adjust the skirt's hoops to the princess's comfort, button up the back of the dress, and all within eight minutes.  
  
Even Senna was impressed. "Very good, Ms. Lowell," she remarked, turning every which way in the mirror and admiring her image. "Now come. We have to go to my Grandmother's for tea."  
  
After bowing down quickly both girls followed Senna out of her bathroom, down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the front doors of her chambers. Ana fell back then, and she brought Amber-Lyn with her. "Now's a time when we follow her. We only lead her places that she isn't sure the location of. If we led her everywhere then she might get the idea that we think we're smarter than her, and that sort of thing always upsets royalty."  
  
Amber-Lyn didn't seem to be listening though. "How did you get her dressed so fast?" she asked.  
  
"I've had practice," Ana answered. "With Rachael, Mandy, and Lindsey I was always working on a tight schedule. If I wasn't fast enough with one girl I'd be late for another, and then everyone's morning would be messed up, and I of course would get in trouble. It took me a few months to get everything down right, but it's pretty easy to dress someone else."  
  
Amber-Lyn sighed. "I barely know how to dress myself," she said softly. "I've never had to. My governess, Miss Tildy, always did that for me. In fact, everyone's always done everything for me."  
  
Ana suddenly got where Amber-Lyn was heading. "Nervous that you'll mess up on something simple, are you?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. I'm not as stupid as you might think. I know that showing even the least bit of attitude towards any official of the Dark King's could get me into a lot of trouble. It's just that I'm not sure when to bow, or how long I'm supposed to stay down, or how to make a bed, or anything like that. You don't have to push me to do everything. I know what I'm supposed to do, just not how."  
  
"I see," Ana said. "I'll try and remember that in the future. And I might be able to teach you a few things about the servant's life, too."  
  
Amber-Lyn, much to Ana's surprise, gave a small smile. "And in exchange I'll give you magical lessons. I doubt that anyone here will be very keen on teaching us anything that might aid an escape, but I excelled at everything my moth-I mean Mrs. Davies taught me." Amber-Lyn paused. "Is Sugar with you?" she asked.  
  
"No," Ana replied. She had never had a civil conversation with Amber-Lyn before, but she might as well try and become some sort of friend to her. "She's probably scouting about and looking for leads to where we can find Rey and Liza."  
  
Amber-Lyn's eyes widened with surprise. "Does that mean that we're-OW!" Amber-Lyn danced on the spot, clutching her shin and biting her lip.  
  
Senna had turned around, and she looked vaguely annoyed. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
"I'm so sorry, princess," Ana murmured, averting her eyes to the ground. "Ms. Wood is terribly clumsy, and she walked right into that table. It won't happen again."  
  
Senna seemed satisfied with the answer for she turned away from her handmaidens and resumed her pace. When she was far enough away so that she wouldn't hear any conversations, Ana turned sharply to Amber-Lyn and hissed, "Don't you even think of saying that word with the princess is around! I'll tell you my plans tonight, in my room, where I'm sure it's safe."  
  
Amber-Lyn glared spitefully at Ana, but she nodded all the same. The friendly mood had been broken, though, and the two girls walked in silence until Senna stopped in front of a large, grand curtain that covered a giant, lofty entrance. Senna pulled out a wand and, in a low voice, murmured, "Razzo Razzi!"  
  
The curtains flew back suddenly to reveal a large room with a high, high ceiling. The room was decorated with a multitude of pinks and grays. It made for a strange combo, and Ana was surprised that Duchess Marjoni tolerated such a light, joyful color as pink. Special exceptions, she supposed, could be made for one's mother, who was addressed as Lady Lyris  
  
Lady Lyris herself was sitting in dark gray sitting chair, sipping tea and looking important. For a woman who must have been at least fifty-five, Lyris-Medea Marjoni was very beautiful. Her skin was as white as milk, unlike her daughter's, and her eyes were cat-shaped and bright green. Her hair was a fiery, bright red that she wore down to her waist, and everything about her radiated elegance.  
  
"Grandmother," Senna said softly, sinking to one knee with Ana and Amber- Lyn. "You look beautiful today. I should hope to age as well as you did when I grow up."  
  
Lady Lyris set down her tea and rose to her full height. "My little one," she said. "It is good to see you. Has your father given you anything since last we met?"  
  
Senna nodded and stood up. "He gave me these two handmaidens, Ms. Lowell and Ms. Wood. Grandmother, is it true that Mercutia Riddle has only one handmaiden?"  
  
Lady Lyris nodded, but she did not share her granddaughter's enthusiasm. "Yes, but that's because your father has already given her three ladies-in- waiting, one footman, and five personal servants," she said gravely.  
  
Senna's face fell. "He still favors her, doesn't he?"  
  
Lady Lyris motioned for her granddaughter to sit down, and Ana pulled Amber- Lyn into the shadows of the curtains. They stood still, but still in sight, and listened to Senna's grandmother explain the politics at work in the castle. "Darling, your father will turn his favor to you, too. You see, the reason he showers Mercutia Riddle with gifts if because her mother, Valicent Mondegal, is the Queen of all Darkness. She has given him two heirs, and she has a tight hold on him. Don't you see? The only reason Mercutia and Titus are in line for the crown is because their mother is queen. The reason you are in line is because you are powerful. As you grow your father will see this, and then you'll be the ones with many gifts."  
  
Senna's face didn't lose its beaten look. "But she still has more, and she always will because her mother has access to Daddy's funds."  
  
Lady Lyris sighed deeply. "Oh, little one, if it would help then I could ask your mother to push these two up to ladies-in-waiting. And I'll see if I could find you a footman. There's that stable boy, Lucas, who could be of some use." When Senna regained her small smile her grandmother kissed her on the head. "Now, Dearest, you should get something in your stomach. If I'm not mistaken then you have your lessons this afternoon, and right after that you're going on a horseback ride with your cousin Madrid."  
  
Senna nodded and she turned to Ana and Amber-Lyn. "You two know how to ride a horse properly, am I right?" she asked.  
  
Both girls shook their head. "There were no horses where we come from," Ana said softly.  
  
Lady Lyris snorted. "No horses? And you came from the great Pegatha Davies? Well, my Darling, that just goes to show what kind up culture the Queen of all Darkness allows into her home!"  
  
Senna laughed as well, and Ana felt Amber-Lyn tense angrily. "Calm down," she whispered. "We'll be gone soon and on our way to dance lessons."  
  
Amber-Lyn did calm down, much to Ana's relief, and the two waited quietly while Senna and Lady Lyris ate a delicious looking breakfast. After the princess finished eating she stood politely, bid farewell to her grandmother, and led Ana and Amber-Lyn on to her dance lessons. Senna was just beginning to learn courantes and galliards, and she invited Ana and Amber-Lyn to join. Ana was all too willing to learn the dances that her own mother had danced, and she was surprised to find that she excelled at them.  
  
The dance instructor, a man called Monsieur Frisk, was surprised too. Turning to Senna he asked, "Where did you find zis girl? She is almost as good as you!"  
  
Senna smiled at the compliment and shrugged. "A gift from my father," she explained. "Ms. Lowell, where did you learn to dance to well?"  
  
At the name 'Lowell' Ana heard Monsieur Frisk gasp. "Princess, if I might be so bold, may I tutor zis girl in ze way of ze dance? You are my only other talented pupil, and I grow weary teaching your cousins who never learn a zing!"  
  
Senna thought for a moment. "I suppose, Monsieur," she said after a while. "You can have her every two days when I have my private Sorceress lessons. I was wondering where I'd send them."  
  
Monsieur Frisk smiled. "Zank you, Princess Senna. You are most wonderful. Perhaps, when the next gathering of your siblings occur, you will have a proper dance partner."  
  
Senna smiled again, but this was a smile of devious ambition. "I should so like to put shame to the name of Mercutia Riddle," she murmured softly. "Oh, how she would die if a servant girl-my handmaiden, no less!-was to best her at dancing."  
  
Senna wore that smile for the rest of the dancing lesson and all throughout lunch. Her eyes glinted strangely whenever anyone mentioned competition, and Ana was reminded once again that she could not get too close to this girl, this daughter of Voldemort.  
  
That afternoon Senna had French. On the way to Mademoiselle Trialle's study Senna explained that she took three languages: Spanish, Latin, and French. She also explained that servants were not allowed to participate in their mistress's lessons, and so she told them to sit quietly in the corner. Ana remembered most of the class, though, and she resolved to learn the language her mother had spoken, as well as the others.  
  
Who knew? Maybe one of these languages would come in handy someday. All Ana knew was that she had best make lemonade out of the lemons she had been given. If she were confined for a long while inside Blackenvire Castle then she might as well learn as much as she could. Knowledge would better her chances of surviving when Amber-Lyn and she escaped.  
  
After Senna's French lesson she went riding with her cousin Madrid. Madrid was a handsome man in his late teens, the eldest son of Senna's aunt Marisol, and he waited patiently while Senna taught Ana and Amber-Lyn the basics of riding a horse. Still, Ana and Amber-Lyn felt more at ease following the princess and her cousin at their own, leisurely pace. It was best, as well, for it gave them a chance to talk.  
  
"Can we talk of our plans here?" Amber-Lyn asked when she was sure the royals were out of earshot.  
  
Ana looked around the open field they were riding through and nodded. "It's safe," she said.  
  
"Good. How long do you think we'll have to stay here?" Amber-Lyn asked.  
  
"Winter's almost here," Ana observed, eyeing the barren trees in the distance. "We can't go running off to who knows where in the middle of winter. And besides-we'll need time to prepare. I think that it'd be best to run in early spring. How does April sound?"  
  
Amber-Lyn looked horrified. "But it's only late October!" She hissed. "You mean that I have to serve that girl from late October to early April?"  
  
"Unless you want to run now," Ana said, "and be totally unprepared. The nights will be near freezing soon, and we'll have little food to bring along. We don't know the surrounding land too well either, so we'll be caught within a matter of days. And once they catch us." Ana shivered to emphasize her point. "Do you know what they do to runaway servants?"  
  
Amber-Lyn didn't look very happy, but at least she seemed to understand. "So we'll plan the next few months plotting," she said slowly. "We'll gather materials and things like that."  
  
Ana nodded. "And we'll learn everything we can," she said. "We'll learn who's who in this world, who hates who, who's in trouble, who's in favor- every political mishap, every marital scandal." Ana gave Amber-Lyn a small grin. "We'll listen for stories about the rebels and renegades, too," she said. "And we'll each focus on learning a language. I'll take French, you take Spanish. We'll memorize Latin together, and by then we'll know enough to get by in the world."  
  
Amber-Lyn seemed pleased with this plan. She stared dazedly into the distance, looking at the giant walls surrounding Blackenvire's grounds as if they were nothing but air. "Oh, I like this plan," she purred. "I like this plan very much."  
  
***  
  
The rest of the day went by at a nice, steady pace. Senna had to council with her aunts and mother on some sort of political matter that evening, and that was when Ana and Amber-Lyn went to get their new wands. For a witch of her age Ana knew very little magic. There was the odd occasion when she sneezed and turned something green, but other than that she was clueless. Mrs. Davies had disliked the thought of any of her servants possessing wands, so she had never taken the time to teach any of them any magic. Amber-Lyn, of course, knew a little, but no more than the average eleven year old.  
  
Amber-Lyn found her wand almost immediately-nine and three quarter inches, redwood, containing a phoenix feather and a hair from a unicorn, springy, excellent wand for performing charms -but for Ana it took some time. The woman who had brought her wands was called Cassandra Ollivander, and she had sharp features but a kind manner.  
  
"Take your time, dear," she told Ana. "It's the wand that chooses the wizard-that's what my father always used to say." Finally, however, on what must have been her twentieth wand, blue, gold, and silver sparks shot out of the tip of Ana's wand. Cassandra looked mildly surprised upon seeing the sparks, but Ana couldn't guess why. Instead she took the wand, looked it up and down, and said quietly, "Interesting.Very interesting. Thirteen inches, ebony, contains a unicorn hair and the heartstring of a dragon, good for just about anything..." Cassandra looked Ana straight in the eye. "My father never made one wand the same. Except a few, special ones-ones that were meant to show something."  
  
Amber-Lyn twirled her wand impatiently. "Well, what does this wand show?" she asked.  
  
Cassandra shot Amber-Lyn a look, but she opened her mouth to answer. Just then, though, the door to the room they were in opened and Marie came bustling in. "Have they found their wands, yet?" Marie asked.  
  
"Both of them have," Cassandra said, and she shot a wistful look in Ana's direction before hastily packing up her things.  
  
"Here's the amount promised, Ms. Ollivander," Marie told the woman, handing her a small, velvet green pouch.  
  
"Thank you very much," Cassandra muttered. "As always, it was pleasant doing business here." She left quickly after saying that, and Marie shook her head as she watched her go.  
  
"Strange one, she is," Marie muttered when the clickity-clack of Cassandra's boots had faded. "Has a daughter about your age, a girl named Heather. No husband to speak of, does as she pleases." The matron of the servants shook her head. "But I'll not be one to gossip. Now, you two should be off to the princess's rooms. She'll be there soon, and she'll be wanting to go to bed. Then you two mosey on back to your own place and bed down for the night. Your things from your old home arrived this morning, and you might want to unpack all that. Tomorrow I'll try and find time to teach you the proper defense spells you'll need to protect the princess." Marie gave a soft smile. "Off with you now," she said.  
  
Ana and Amber-Lyn nodded and took out their maps. Two little dots showed represented them, and they traced their way back to the room entitled 'Princess Senna's chambers'. The two young girls moved quickly and they reached the rooms right as their mistress was. Senna seemed generally pleased to see them.  
  
"There you two are," she said. "I trust that you found your wands?" She nodded approvingly when both girls said yes. "Good. Mama's very paranoid about attacks from that awful rebel group, the Renegades. Have you heard of them?"  
  
"No," Ana told her.  
  
Senna opened the doors to her rooms and inhaled the lavender scent that greeted them. "Well, even though Mama and Grandmother would kill me for telling you about them I suppose I must. It's best you hear the truth about them, instead of some bull concocted by a lowlife servant who'd like to see my family gone." Senna led them up to the room, and she continued speaking. "The Renegades are a group of men and women who've been gaining power for the past two years. They travel all throughout Britain and Ireland and Scotland, causing trouble for my father's men and burning down Death Eater organizations and things of that sort."  
  
Ana's attention perked, and she hoped that her sudden interest in what was being said didn't show on her face. "That's awful!" she said, pretending to be horrified.  
  
"Isn't it?" Senna asked, turning her back to Ana and motioning for her to undress her. "Mama's terribly worried, and she says Daddy is going mad trying to catch them. Their leader is a man they call Rogue, and his right hand person is a woman who has been nicknamed Trouble. They're deadly dangerous, I hear." Senna yawned, and it was obvious that her attention was waning from the Renegades. "But enough about that," she said sleepily as she slipped into her nightgown. "Do either of you know any good bedtime stories?"  
  
Amber-Lyn shook her head and turned to Ana. Ana jerked her head in a 'yes' response and sat down on Senna's bed. "I made this one up myself, you see," she said. "And it begins like most faerie tales does.With a beautiful princess and a handsome prince."  
  
***  
  
"That was a nice story," Amber-Lyn commented as she opened the door to Ana and hers quarters. "I bet little Mandy liked to hear that one."  
  
"It was her favorite," Ana admitted. "I made up a lot of stories for those girls.My cousins, I guess."  
  
"My cousins too," Amber-Lyn said sulkily.  
  
She was shifting quickly back into her moody stage, so Ana made herself scare by disappearing into her tiny room. Sure enough there was a small trunk there, and when she opened it she found the trunk to be sparsely filled will a few dressed and Ana's favorite book. She was still looking at the dresses when Sugar flitted in and gasped!  
  
"My dear wings!" the faerie cried. "Is that Kate's trunk?" Ana's eyebrows arched, and Sugar began motioning wildly. "Knock on the bottom of it! It should be hollow!"  
  
Ana did as she was told. There was a vacant 'thump, thump' when her knuckles hit the old wood, and it only took a moment's pulling to loosen the bottom board and pull it up. Now what she saw took her breath away. There weren't many things in the trunk, of course, but it was more than she could have hoped for. There was an old photo album, a small, bejeweled box of old, tattered books, and a tiny, miniature chest. Ana's hands went to the photo album first, and the picture that was in the very front took her breath away.  
  
It was of a smiling, laughing young woman. The young woman had reddish- brown hair, dark blue eyes, a pretty face, and she was very much pregnant. Two young girls stood by the woman, one with light, silky blonde hair and the other with bouncy, dark, corkscrew curls. Under the picture was written in a loopy scrawl, 'About to pop, and Jeanette and Keri can't stop cracking jokes about my stomach!' The next picture was filled with a picture of a bunch of freckly red head men and one young woman, probably their sister. 'Ron pinched me a picture of his family! He's the handsome one in the green robe.' Ana traced her fingers over Ron Weasley's laughing, grinning face. He sent her a big wave, and she couldn't help but wave back.  
  
"This is amazing," she told Sugar as she leafed through more pictures.  
  
"It sure is," Sugar agreed. "I guess we got your mum's stuff after all."  
  
Ana didn't hear her, though. She was too busy staring at a picture of a chubby, giggling baby girl. The baby girl had reddish-brown fluff all over her head, and she was held tightly in the arms of the same young woman in the first picture. The caption read 'Ana's first picture, and isn't she beautiful? I didn't ever believe I could love someone so much, especially if I had only just met them.' Sugar looked away as Ana removed the picture from its slot and studied it closely. She pretended that she didn't read that words that Kate had wrote, but Ana found that she didn't care.  
  
"She really loved me, didn't she?" Ana asked.  
  
"Loves you," Sugar corrected. "I believe that she's still alive and kicking."  
  
Ana lifted her 'faerie godmother' gently into her hands. "I'm glad I'm not the only one," she whispered.  
  
Sugar watched Ana from a perch as Ana put away her mother's things and prepared for bed. "I heard some things today that might be of interest to you," she said after a while. "You're not the only new servant here. There's a middle aged woman named Andrea Verlitz, and I listened into a conversation she was having with a friend." Sugar paused and waited until she was sure that she fully had Ana's attention. "She wasn't happy about being transferred. Andrea had been working in the house of a Death Eater named Kylo Nott for the past three decades, and she was suddenly moved here- away from everything she knew-because Nott needed to make room for a new servant, a young girl."  
  
Ana breathed the name hopefully. "Liza!"  
  
Sugar shrugged. "I didn't catch an actual name, but the girl fits the description. About eleven, Andrea said, rather pretty, and very quiet."  
  
"That would be Liza," Ana said, almost laughing with joy. "Did she say where Nott lived?"  
  
Sugar grinned and nodded. "It's a ways from here, I think, but it's a place called Sairos."  
  
Ana closed her eyes and thought a moment. "Sairos is a small, small town. It's old fashioned, and it's known for its main industry: making beer."  
  
Sugar leapt from her perch and onto the bed. "So we know where Liza is. That's good for now." She curled up on Ana's pillow. "Early to sleep and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. John Clarke said that, little Ana, and he was right. You'll think more clearly in the morning if you get to sleep now. Tomorrow we'll begin to make more detailed plans, and you can't be falling asleep on me."  
  
But it was too late. Ana was already snoozing softly, and soon enough the faerie was too.  
  
***  
  
"You're back."  
  
Ana jumped when she heard the small boy's voice behind her. She had been busy admiring the many books on the shelves of the library she had found herself in, and she hadn't been paying attention to anything-or anyone-else around her. But right away she knew who the boy was.  
  
"Hello, Nicholas," Ana said kindly, dropping to her knees and becoming eye level with the small boy. "It's nice to see you here too."  
  
Nicholas nodded. His arms were wrapped very tightly around the same teddy- bear Ana had seen him with when they first met, and she was beginning to believe it was a security item. "I know who you are," he said.  
  
"Know who I am?" Ana asked, feigning ignorance.  
  
"You're my sister Ana. And you're trying to find me." Nicholas looked at her with a fierce look of hope in his eyes. "Aren't you? Aren't I right?"  
  
Ana thought a moment before nodding. "I am your big sister, and I am looking for you. It might take me a while though. You see, I've been captured by some very bad people, and they won't let me go, so I'll have to wait until spring so I can escape."  
  
Nicholas's look of hope and triumph was replaced with a melancholy frown. "But why?" he asked. "I hate it here. My pretend sisters are mean, and everyone at school calls me a freak, and my pretend parents are always mad at me."  
  
Ana was taken aback by her brother's outburst. "They're mad at you?" she wondered aloud. "Why ever would they be mad at you?"  
  
"Because I make things happen!" Nicholas cried, and tears welled up in his eyes. "I make things happen, Ana! Sometimes I'll be making cookies with Sheryl, and then I'll sneeze, and suddenly there's cookie mix all over the walls and the floor and everything! Sheryl gets mad because she thinks I did it on purpose."  
  
Ana sighed deeply. "Did the letter our mum gave you ever talk about magic?" she asked.  
  
"Magic?" Nicholas asked. He looked skeptical. "Like the Lord of the Rings magic?"  
  
Ana raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of the Lord of the Rings," she told him, "but I'm talking about witches, and wizards, and goblins, and unicorns, and spells, and all that jazz."  
  
Nicholas gave his teddy-bear a squeeze for comfort. "Are we goblins?" he asked.  
  
Ana couldn't help but laugh. "Merlin, no!" she gasped through her giggles. "I'm a witch, and you're a wizard! All those things that happen, the things you can never explain, are just bursts of pent up magic."  
  
Nicholas looked amazed. "Is that how you're here?" he asked. "Through magic?"  
  
Ana nodded. "I'm a Seer," she said. "I can travel to faraway places in my dreams."  
  
"As faraway as Surrey?" Nicholas asked. "That's pretty faraway."  
  
"Surrey?" Ana asked. "Is that where you live?" She realized that her voice was getting faint. Her body was fading, and Nicholas was becoming harder and harder to see.  
  
"Come and fine me, Ana!" the young boy began yelling. "Please, come and find me!"  
  
***  
  
"NICHOLAS!"  
  
Ana's eyes flew open. It was dark, still, but adrenaline was rushing through her veins and she knew it would be impossible to go back to sleep. Thankfully she had not woken Sugar up with her terrified cry, and she slumped against the wall behind her bed. She kept seeing images of Nicholas's frightened face, and she wondered, not for the first time, about his "pretend" parents.  
  
There was something strange about the way Nicholas spoke of them. His eyes would mist over, and Ana resolved to talk to Sugar about it later. She decided to get an early start that morning, and she had eaten and dressed far before the time the buzzer would go off. Instead of pacing around her room or sitting patiently in the kitchen she decided that she would explore the castle, but only a little bit.  
  
Ana slipped out of her quarters undetected, and she slunk down the hallway and in the opposite direction of Senna's chambers. She was rustling around her smock pocket, looking for her map, when she ran right into somebody. The somebody she had collided with had been running very fast, so Ana was thrown off her feet by the force. She landed unpleasantly on her rump and staid there for a moment, piecing together what had just happened.  
  
"Oh, lord, I'm sorry!" A voice broke through her muddled thoughts. "Didn't see you there." Ana was dragged up off the ground roughly and suddenly she found herself staring into a pair of rich, golden eyes. The eyes were set in a young face, strangely pale with high cheekbones and a strong, protruding nose. He couldn't have been much older than Ana herself, and he seemed very gentlemanly.  
  
'That's all right," Ana said. "No harm done." She made a move to leave then, but the boy grabbed her arm and stopped her.  
  
"Not so fast," he said. "I didn't catch your name."  
  
Ana smiled tightly. "I didn't give it," she said.  
  
"Well, let my introduce myself as AC. And you are?" AC gave Ana a crooked smile.  
  
"Ana Lowell," Ana said, and her voice was a little more warm this time. She had a feeling that AC had that effect on people.  
  
AC gave Ana a small wink. "Ana.what a pretty name," he told her. "Can I call you Annie?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How about Ann?"  
  
Ana gave him a scathing look that said it all.  
  
"Well, then, I guess I call you Nana. Rhymes with Ana, has the same letters.I just added on an 'n'." AC gave Ana a smile which was, needless to say, not returned.  
  
"I have to go now," Ana said callously. AC's charismatic presence had worn off quickly, and now she longed to return to her room.  
  
"No problem," AC retorted. "No problem at all. I'll see you around later, right?"  
  
"I guess," she replied.  
  
"Bye, Nan!" AC called as he bounded off down the hall. Ana shook her head. Ten to one she'd never see that boy again.  
  
***  
  
It had been a week and a half since Ana had seen AC, and, what with her new and busy schedule, he was just a vague ghost of a memory. She and Amber-Lyn had been studying their maps whenever they were in private, memorizing all the hallways and corridors. They, along with Sugar, had begun to form a plan of escape, and every Wednesday and Sunday Ana would have private dancing lessons with Monsieur Frisk. Marie had also been pounding into their heads a few handy defense spells.  
  
However, one Saturday morning when the Sun had not yet risen, Ana found herself walking down the hallways once again. She had not had any dreams recently, and she was beginning to grown anxious in anticipation. Her nerves were strained, and her shoulders were hunched up tightly, so she jumped nearly a mile when somebody tapped her lightly on the shoulder.  
  
"Nan! Merlin! I didn't mean to scare you so!"  
  
Ana had to take three deep breaths before whirling around and facing AC. "What in the devil's name are you trying to do?" she asked in a sharp voice. "You almost gave me a heart attack."  
  
AC crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Touchy, touchy!" he laughed. "Where've you been? I never see you in the servants' dining hall."  
  
Ana raised her eyebrows. "Servant's dining hall? Marie never mentioned a servants' dining hall."  
  
"We're even then," AC quipped. "Marie never mentioned you. What do you do around here anyway? You must be pretty high up if Marie doesn't tell you about the servants' dining hall."  
  
"I'm a handmaiden to Princess Senna," Ana told him.  
  
AC didn't hide his shock. "A handmaiden to the princess? No wonder you don't come around! I expect that your mistress is rather snooty."  
  
Ana knew better than to reply. "She's nice enough," she lied. "And you'd best keep your mouth shut about her too. Marie would box your ears, I expect, if she heard you talking about a royal like that."  
  
AC snorted as if he didn't care one bit, but Ana didn't miss the uneasy look in his eyes. "I've got old Marie eating out of the palms of my hands," he chortled jovially. "She's like a mum to me, she is, seeing as how my own mum left me when I was no more than one."  
  
Ana had a strange feeling when he said that. "My mother left me too," she said, though she didn't go into details.  
  
"Well, Nan, it seems as though we have a lot in common," AC concluded. "Why don't you come down the servants' dining hall this evening when you get off. I'll wait there until ten, all right?"  
  
Ana thought briefly about backing out because she had things to do with Amber-Lyn, but then she caught herself. She deserved to have at least one thing separate from her two companions. Let AC be it. "I'll try and be there by nine-thirty," Ana agreed. "See you then." She smiled quickly and then was off to begin her day.  
  
***  
  
It took Ana a while to find the servants' dining hall. It wasn't properly marked on her map, and Ana reached the large door leading down into a dungeon-like room twenty minutes later then she said she would have. Lucky for her AC was still waiting there when she arrived, though the only other person in the room was a hefty, bald, tattooed man. When AC saw her he looked relieved.  
  
"Thought you wouldn't make it!" he called to Ana. "Did the princess give you troubles?"  
  
Ana sighed deeply and sank down into the chair next to him. "I got lost," she admitted.  
  
"It's an easy thing to do," AC assured her. "I've always lived here so I wouldn't know what it's like, though."  
  
"You've always lived here?" Ana asked. Suddenly she found many reasons to befriend AC.  
  
"Yep," AC replied. "Ever since I can remember. Marie has raised me like a son, since she's barren never could have children. Her husband Bart died five years ago, when I was only six, so I don't remember him all that well."  
  
"But this castle hasn't always been inhabited by the Duchess, has it?"  
  
AC shook his head at the question. "Nope. Used to belong to a high-ranking Death Eater family. They moved, though, to make room for the Dark King's new bride. That was when I was about one, though. Princess Senna is about ten, I'd say."  
  
"She looks much older," Ana commented. "Tell me, does the princess ever leave this iron hold?"  
  
AC nodded. "Oh, yeah, every March or in early April she heads down to Mardentine for a month or so. She goes shopping with all the works and everything, too. I expect you'll have to watch over her while she does that." AC gave Ana a stern look. "Just watch over her carefully, Nan. You don't want to end up like the last ones."  
  
Ana cocked her head in pretend innocence, and she screwed her face up to look confused. "Last ones?" she asked. "What last ones?"  
  
AC was too caught up in his story to be bothered by the content of her questions. "When Princess Senna was eight she had two nannies, Roxanne and Betty. Now, these two were fairly responsible, and they kept an eagle eye on her, but then they all went to Mardentine in the spring. The crowds there are horrible at any time of the year, but especially then. Princess Senna had been shopping in a toy store, but she got caught up in a crowd, and she was swept out of the store."  
  
"But what about the nannies?" Ana asked.  
  
"Even though they found the princess three blocks away at an ice cream parlor the King and the Duchess were furious. They had a public hanging because they claimed that Roxanne and Betty were too lowly to have a decent execution." AC still looked serious. "It's really easy to get lost in those crowds. And there are so many people in Mardentine that it would be murder to track down just two. I don't know why those two didn't just make a break for it. If they had really wanted to they could have been to the coast by dawn."  
  
***  
  
"I have a plan," Ana said as she walked into her room that night.  
  
"Where were you?" Sugar asked, ignoring Ana's claim.  
  
"I have a darn near surefire plan, Sugar, on escaping this dump!"  
  
"You had me worried sick when you didn't return from the princess's chambers! Amber-Lyn said that you just slipped off without telling her where you were going!" Sugar looked angrier than all get out.  
  
"I was talking to this boy-"  
  
"You were with a boy?"  
  
"-and he's been here forever-"  
  
"What kind of boy is this?"  
  
"-so, naturally, he knows all about the princess's schedule-"  
  
"I think I should meet this boy!"  
  
"-He told me that each year during March or April the princess takes a shopping trip to Mardentine-"  
  
"I don't want him to get the wrong idea about you, you know."  
  
"-and so Amber-Lyn and I will spend a month or so taking her around the city-"  
  
"I mean, you're so young! You're too young to be sneaking off with some boy!"  
  
"-but that's the time when Mardentine's the busiest, so it would be easy to slip off-"  
  
"You're mother wouldn't like it at all!"  
  
"And we could be to the coast by dawn, and no one would want to follow."  
  
That shut Sugar up right away. She sat down slowly and looked slightly dazed. "I told you that you'd find us a way, whether you knew it or not."  
  
Ana blushed at the little bit of praise. "We still have to figure out many things," she reminded her small friend. "We need to work out the details."  
  
Sugar had gotten over the shock, and she was grinning broadly now. "That we will, my dear friend, that we will. Now, I want you to continue to talk with this boy more. Don't tell him about Amber-Lyn or I, but get more information out of him. We can use all we can get, and it sounds as if he'd be a good source."  
  
"Yes ma'am!" Ana giggled. The light was back in Sugar's eyes, and she felt somehow rekindled. They had a plan, they had nothing to lose.  
  
Now all they needed was a little bit of luck. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Escape

A/N: Well, this is the last chapter of 'Children of Fate'. There will be a sequel within a few weeks, so look out for that.Also, read the epilogue. It'll tie up any wavering questions, I hope, but Ana's father's identity will remain a secret. In fact, you can still vote on who you want it to be. Draco Malfoy or Ron Weasley? Well, enjoy this chapter!  
  
***  
  
The plan was suicide, plain and simple. Ana stared down at the bottle of amber liquid Monsieur Frisk had given her. The Frenchman was some sort of loony, of that she could be sure.Imagine, expecting three eleven-year-old girls to do what he had explained.It was unthinkable!  
  
'But,' Ana thought apprehensively, shoving the bottle into her dress pocket, 'it's the only way.'  
  
She kept repeating that to herself mentally as she hurried down the dark staircase that led to the more lowly servants' quarters. She needed to find AC, or the plan would never work. Luckily it didn't take much luck. As was usual with AC he appeared when Ana was least expecting him. He stepped right out in front of Ana as she rushed down the hall, and Ana clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the cry of surprise that she emitted. AC's head snapped up, and his eyes, puffy and red from crying, lost a bit of their depressed look.  
  
"Nan," he murmured softly. "I'm glad to see you."  
  
"As am I," Ana assured him. Relief filled her gut, and she put on the most pitying smile on her face that she could muster. "Poor Marie."  
  
"Damn right," AC muttered, and he looked mutinous. "Morons serve the Duchess, Nan, morons! Stupid idiots.Marie did everything for them, and do any of them mourn? Do any of them care that she died? She could have survived, Nan, if someone had helped me care for her.But they were all too afraid for their own stinking lives!"  
  
Ana patted her friend's arm. "I would have helped," she lied. Anything to get him to show her...  
  
"Of course," AC said. He was back to muttering, and his tone was both surly and lugubrious. "And they didn't even give her a proper viewing place! They just threw her in a small cavity down that passageway." AC pointed in the direction he had come from.  
  
"They'll bury her in a tomb, won't they? The Duchess liked Marie fair enough, and she'll put her in that servant's tomb by the coast, right?" Ana tried not to sound too curious.  
  
"All I know is that she'll be buried out by the coast.Don't know where, though, but what you said sounds right." AC looked forlorn. "I'll miss her." He sounded near tears, and Ana was sure that the moment she left he would cry again.  
  
"You'll be fine on your own, though, won't you?" Ana asked. She was wasting valuable time, her mission here was complete, but she owed it to AC to comfort him a bit more.  
  
"I doubt it," AC muttered. "Not many down here like me. The younger children make fun of me, the few my age avoid me.And the teens and men? Don't get me started. I'm just one big joke in these parts!"  
  
"Surely you aren't that awful," Ana said, somewhat taken aback. AC was as pleasant and friendly as they came. He could be annoying at times, but certainly not that annoying.  
  
"Oh," AC mumbled, "it's not my personality so much as my.my sanity." He seemed embarrassed now that she was asking questions.  
  
"You don't seem mad to me."  
  
AC snorted sardonically. "Oh, that's only because you don't know," he told her.  
  
"Know what?"  
  
AC gave Ana a long, pensive look. "I can.sense.things." His answer was vague, and when Ana looked only more confused AC explained more in depth. "Sometimes I can sense if a person's bad or good or if they've killed or not.I can tell when people are telling the truth or lying.Things like that. It comes in fazes, when someone's feeling something particularly strong, and it's an honest fact, but no one but Marie ever believed me." AC looked at Ana again, and this time there was a sort of bashfulness in his gaze. "Still think I'm not a loon?"  
  
But Ana barely heard him. Her mind was racing, connecting things, filling in what had once been large, empty holes. Last night, in her past-dream, there had been four children: herself, Liza, Rey, and little Adrian.  
  
Adrian Chevalier to be exact.  
  
She had never been told what had happened to Adrian, but it was just a good as guess as any to imagine that he'd been thrown in Blackenvire. And it would make sense that he could "sense" things. After all, hadn't Adrian's father and mother been able to transform into Kneazles? It would be very possible that some of the kneazle attributes transferred to their son.  
  
"AC.Does that stand for anything?" Ana wondered aloud.  
  
"Course it does," AC said impatiently. "But what about my question? Do you think I'm mad?"  
  
"Adrian Chevalier, right?"  
  
"Yes, that's right, but do you think-Wait!" Adrian Chevalier frowned suspiciously. "How would you know? Did Marie tell you?"  
  
Ana shook her head. "No. She didn't. I just.guessed." Ana was thinking fast.How could she explain to Adrian exactly how she knew? Thankfully, Adrian guessed for her.  
  
"I knew it! You're somebody I knew.Or at least somebody from my past! You were so familiar.And I couldn't explain it!" Adrian's eyes were glowing, and suddenly they didn't look so red or puffy.  
  
Ana had to bring him along now. He was her godbrother, for magic's sake! She fingered the bottle in her pocket. There wasn't a lot-only enough for three girls and a bit for Sugar-and having Adrian along would mean less of a guarantee, but someone she'd make it work. Turning to Adrian she said, and in a serious voice, so that he would know that she wasn't joking, "Come with me. My friends and I are going to escape here tonight, and I want you to come along."  
  
Adrian looked only mildly surprised. "I would have thought so," he muttered. "You've had this restless feeling about you ever since I can remember." Then he looked flattered. "And you'll take me with you?"  
  
Ana nodded. "There will be a good deal of danger, and I have an agenda to follow, but you're destined for something more than being a servant boy." She paused and let her words sink in. "We're all destined for something more."  
  
Adrian nodded dutifully. "I will follow you to the ends of the Earth, Nan. Count me in."  
  
Ana took his hand then, causing him to grin, and the two set off up the stairs. Neither of them said a thing as they stole quietly back to Ana's rooms. It was heavily prohibited that anyone be out of their rooms without an escort, due to the outbreak of the Rooken Virus. Ana shuddered to think at what could happen if they were to run into a guard, or worse, a Death Eater...  
  
"You're trembling, Nan. Are you afraid?"  
  
Ana looked down at her hand, which was, indeed, shaking. Then she looked at her friend, the likes of which was smiling at her reassuringly. "Not anymore," she whispered. They reached her door then, and before Ana could reach out and turn the knob it was thrown open. Ana barely had time to blink before she had been dragged inside by Liza. The young black girl looked furious, more so then Ana had ever seen her, but, as was always with Liza, her voice was merely cool and crisp when she spoke.  
  
"You had us all worried sick. You've gone for an hour, Ana! Anyone could have come by and deduced that you were gone." Liza paused for a breath, and Ana was sure she would have continued had not she seen Adrian. With a high pitched shriek-Liza was dressed only in a thin nightdress-she dove behind Amber-Lyn, who had come out from the kitchen to investigate the noise. "Ana!" Liza yelled. "What in the devil is that boy doing here?"  
  
Adrian backed towards the door. "Ana, if they don't want me here then I'll leave."  
  
Ana frowned. "No, Adrian, I insist you stay." She turned to Liza. "You don't know who he is, do you?" she asked. "I had forgotten that you didn't hear the whole story."  
  
Liza's eyebrows shot up. "Hmm? What's he got to do with your mum's past?"  
  
Ana shook her head. "I can't explain, but Sugar'll be able to. Go and get her."  
  
"But he might see her!" Amber-Lyn protested. Now even she was looking confused.  
  
"That's the point! Please! Just go get her!" Ana's tone must have been desperate because Liza turned on her heel and dashed into the kitchen. Within seconds she reappeared, Sugar perched on her shoulder. Adrian gasped when he saw Sugar, and he rubbed his eyes a few times, but Sugar understood instantly who was standing before her.  
  
"Oh, my." That was all the tiny sprite could think to say. She took a deep breath, gathered herself, and then faced Ana. "You know who he is, I assume?"  
  
"Adrian Chevalier Audric, to be sure," Ana replied.  
  
Sugar nodded. "And you know who you are as well?" she asked Adrian.  
  
Adrian shrugged. "I know that my name's Adrian Chevalier-Marie was told that by her last mistress, a noblewoman who lived here before the Duchess- but the Audric part in new."  
  
Sugar slid down Liza's arm so that she was balancing on the girl's crossed right forearm. "Ana, how did you find him?"  
  
Ana began explaining how she and Adrian had met earlier that evening. "And then he said he could sense things, Sugar! As in he's able to sense a basic goodness and badness in people. After that something just clicked. He went by the letters A and C. It dawned on me that the letters could be initials."  
  
"So this is the enigmatic AC we've been hearing about for these past months?" Amber-Lyn asked. It was only the second time she had spoken, and she still seemed uneasy around Adrian. Ana imagined that the feeling was mutual.  
  
"Nan told you about me? She never mentioned any of you." His eyes lingered on Sugar, and a characteristic grin spread over his pale face. "Especially not you, Tinkerbell."  
  
Sugar's eyes widened. She obviously considered herself insulted beyond belief, having been addressed to by her blonde arch nemesis's name. "You've got your mother's cheek, Adrian," she said in a curt, controlled voice.  
  
Adrian's wiseacre attitude disappeared all but instantly at the mention of his mother. "My mum?" he asked. "She was cheeky?"  
  
Sugar's tight, prim glare evaporated. She even allowed herself a small smile. "Your mum was a real smart arse, all right. Always had a smile, always had a quip. She was beautiful too. She had a good amount of veela blood-"  
  
"Sugar," Ana snapped suddenly, catching sight of the clock that resided over the doorway, "I'm sure his mother was a wonderful woman, but could we continue this sometime else? We don't have much time."  
  
"Much time for what?" Liza asked.  
  
"Much time to escape." Ana ignored Amber-Lyn's breathy gasp, and she held up her hand to stop Sugar's questions. "I made-well, really, Monsieur Frisk made it-a plan that will get us to the coast by sunup." Again she had to make a motion to stop Sugar from asking questions. "It's extremely dangerous, and, to be honest, it's over the hill crazy."  
  
Sugar, of course, felt need to interrupt her with a quote right then. "The greater the risk, the sweeter the fruit. Pierre Cornielle said that."  
  
Ana pretended that she had not heard. This plan may be risky, but it'll get us out. It's our only chance." She gave her friends a grim look before producing the bottle of amber liquid that she had stowed in her dress. Uncorking the cap she took a good swig of the fluid and made a horrible face. "Oh, gross," she muttered, handing to bottle off to Amber-Lyn. "Tastes like cabbage and seaweed."  
  
Amber-Lyn looked at her cousin and then at the bottle. "And we have to drink this because.?"  
  
"Because it's the antidote for the Rooken Virus. Monsieur Frisk nabbed it from an incoming crate of fifteen bottles for the Death Eaters and all the other important people in Blackenvire. It was supposed to be a holdover until the heavier duty stuff arrived two days from now. It would build up their immunities enough so that they wouldn't get sick until the real antidote-the stuff that was administrated by a needle-arrived. We'll be dealing in close quarters with the virus, and it's mandatory that we all take about a mouthful of it, or we might get sick."  
  
Amber-Lyn looked only more skeptical, but she still managed to say, "Bottoms up," and down a bit. Then Liza took a sip, and then Adrian, and lastly Sugar gulped down the few amber drops left.  
  
It was Liza who made the first choking noise. "My god, Ana! What goes into this antidote?" the young girl asked, gasping and clutching her neck.  
  
Ana looked surprised. "Why?"  
  
"Because, I feel so.Strange!" Amber-Lyn groaned.  
  
"Good," Ana. "Monsieur Frisk said to expect this."  
  
"If it's just side effects then I won't sweat it," Adrian quipped. "But why would we need the antidote in the first place?"  
  
Ana, who had been fidgeting off and on ever since she had mentioned the plan, froze. Amber-Lyn froze too. "What, Ana? What the hell do you have up your sleeve?"  
  
Ana took a deep breath. Suddenly she seemed clammy. "Just come with me," she said softly, and no one missed her nervous tone. "I'll explain it all when we get there."  
  
***  
  
"Unbelievable!" The group five had been standing in front of Marie Connelly's casket-somewhere in the course of the past forty minutes, Adrian had said, they had placed her in the wooden box-for the past three minutes, and only Liza seemed to understand what exactly was happening. Since they had arrived in the tiny cavity Liza had rotated from glaring at Ana and staring fearfully at the casket. "You're mad!"  
  
Ana tried her best to soothe her nervous best friend. "It's the only way, Liza! Think of Rey, and think of freedom! Isn't it all worth a little risk?"  
  
Liza looked at the rest of their assemblage. "I will if everyone else is game," she muttered. She looked very sure that no one else would "be game".  
  
"What's going on?" Amber-Lyn sounded disgruntled. "What do you two know that we don't?"  
  
Ana chanced a glance at the casket, then down at her feet. "Weareleavinginthecasket." Her words were meshed together and totally unintelligible.  
  
"What's going on, Lowell?" Now even Sugar seemed upset.  
  
"We're leaving via the casket," Ana hissed, and the reactions to her statement varied. Liza looked smug, Amber-Lyn looked horrified, Sugar cursed, and only Adrian seemed "game".  
  
"It's what Marie would have wanted," he said aloud.  
  
"But a casket! How will we all fit in there?" Amber-Lyn was panicking. "I hate tight, small spaces, and I hate being crammed up with other people."  
  
Sugar wasn't much better. "Merlin almighty! This man told you to escape Blackenvire by means of a casket?"  
  
Ana nodded. "He's made arrangements. He's almost certain that the caskets will be taken to be placed in a Servant's Tomb that the Duchess erected about seven years ago. We lie low for an hour, and then we run for the coast. Even if people notice our absence, they won't know where to begin looking."  
  
"Where would we keep her body?" Sugar asked. "Can't leave her lying about, now can we?"  
  
"Well, we don't have anywhere to put it," Ana admitted, "but you have a little magic, don't you?"  
  
Sugar looked skeptical. "I have magic enough to do certain things. It's strange, really. I can make things materialize well enough, but I can't make them disappear." She held up a tiny finger when Amber-Lyn opened her mouth. "However, I can put illusions on things. While I won't be able to make Marie's body disappear I will be able to make her seem.gone."  
  
"That means people will discover her soon than later," Amber-Lyn protested.  
  
"For our sakes let's hope it's later," Ana retorted, and she moved to pry the top of the casket open. She stepped back a bit when she saw Marie's body, but she overcame her sudden wave apprehension. She motioned for Adrian and Liza to help her pull Marie out of the casket, and they all but dropped the heavy woman in the farthest corner. Leaving Sugar to work her magic Ana began to make estimates. "We're lucky that she's a big woman. They got a pretty big casket. It'll be a tight fit, to be sure, but we'll all make it."  
  
"We're lucky that we're all skinny," Liza commented. She was the first into the wooden box, and Adrian followed her soon after. Amber-Lyn followed her reluctantly, and, after grabbing Sugar and the lid of the casket, Ana herself climbed in. The fit was cramped and stuffy. It was a cheap, plain wooden box, as Monsieur Frisk had anticipated, so there were wooden holes on the sides of the casket, and it was easy enough to breathe.  
  
Thankfully it was not long before the guards came to bring the casket to the tomb. They weren't to gentle with the casket, but Ana was simply glad that no one checked to see that it was really Marie inside. Ana and her friends made great efforts not to squeal when they bounced together, and everything went as planned. They felt themselves being placed in some sort of cart, and Ana suspected that they weren't the only ones there. With an unpleasant bump that caused Ana's head to knock into Adrian's teeth.  
  
No one said a word as the cart traveled down the bumpy road. There were more potholes than Ana remembered, and by the time she could smell the ocean air she had hit her head against Adrian's teeth nine more times. She wasn't the only one to give a sigh of relief when the cart pulled to a stop. Everyone remained silent and still, and soon the voices of the men who had brought them to the tomb were right beside them.  
  
"How come we've got to put locks on these coffins, Gritz?" the first man asked.  
  
"Because," Gritz replied, "the Duchess doesn't want any investigations. If we drop the caskets into the ocean without locking the lids shut eventually muggles are going to start finding the bodies." Those few words were enough to wreak panic throughout the wooden box.  
  
"Ocean? We're getting dropped into an ocean?" Amber-Lyn was beginning to panic, and her breaths were coming short and rapidly. "My god! You said were being left in a tomb!"  
  
"I didn't know!" Ana hissed. "The tomb must be filled!"  
  
But Amber-Lyn was past listening. "My god, I'm going to die! We're all going to die!" She began to make small, spasmodic thrashing movements, hitting her three companions in the process.  
  
"Get a hold on yourself, Wood!" Sugar hissed from Ana's apron pocket. "Things will be ten million times worse if we're discovered now by the guards!"  
  
"But Sugar!" Liza said, and her tone was surprisingly whiney. "We're going to drown like packed rats!"  
  
There was an uncomfortable feeling, and Ana's stomach dropped. She realized that the men had, during their small argument, put a lock on their casket and were now carrying them to the ocean. She presumed that they were on a cliff, and that there would be a long drop.  
  
"Maybe we'll be able to charm the lock open. Could you do that Sugar?" Adrian seemed to be a voice of reason.  
  
"Maybe.But they'll be watching the waters below to make sure that nothing went wrong and that there are no floating bodies." Sugar sounded doubtful. "But we have no choice."  
  
"Oi, Gritz! Aren't we supposed to tie rocks around these caskets?"  
  
"Oh, damn it! Everything's just going to the dogs, isn't it? Shit! Could anything go more wrong?" Sugar's strings of profanities caused a shocked silence to befall the casket.  
  
And then all hell broke loose!  
  
Amber-Lyn snapped and began screaming in pure, claustrophobic terror. The small spasmodic movements were now giant, lunging thrashes. The footsteps that had been carrying them all to their doom stopped. And then there was a cruel, snorting laugh.  
  
"Well, Bo! If we don't have a couple of runaways hidden in this here!"  
  
Bo snorted and chortled in response. "You know what we do with runaways, tots?" he asked. Ana suspected that he was deriving great pleasure from frightening them. "We don't turn them into anybody. Oh no! We just shuck them in the drink and watch them drown!"  
  
The man called Gritz began howling with psychotic laughter. "Hope you kiddies can swim!" he crowed. The box began swinging back and forth, and it was obvious that they were gain momentum to heave them off the cliff. Amber- Lyn's shrieks had intensified, and, just as the two dark minions drew back the casket to hurl over the cliff, Ana took a deep breath.  
  
"I have something I need to say," she said meekly, and it was a wonder that Sugar was able to hear her over Amber-Lyn's screams.  
  
"What is it, Ana?" Sugar never got her answer, though, because at that moment the two men let go of the casket and everyone went flying off the cliff.  
  
This time everyone screamed.  
  
***  
  
Steven "Bo" Limon and Carlos Gritz looked over the cliff and at the ocean below. Bo had lit his wand, and the beam of light was shining down into the churning waters.  
  
"Can you see anything?" Gritz asked. He pulled his scraggly pumpkin orange hair into a ponytail and frowned.  
  
"No," Bo said, and he frowned also. "Can't imagine how anyone would survive that though. Those locks are damn hard to break, let me tell you!"  
  
Gritz shivered ominously. "I don't know, Bo. I've got a funny feeling about this." He began to fidget sporadically. "There was something familiar about that screaming girl. I've heard her voice before."  
  
Bo snorted. "Come on, mate! You're just being paranoid! For Merlin's sake, let's get these last few boxes loaded up and we'll shove off. The Duchess said we could stay at one of those nice hotels in Mardentine. I bet she sent a few.lady friends over."  
  
Gritz shrugged, if for no other reason than to assure himself, and stood up to his full height. "Whatever you say, Bo. Whatever you say. You're right. Those kids are long dead." 


	14. Epilogue: Past, Present, and Future

A/N: Well, this is the epilogue of 'Children of Fate'. There will be a sequel within a few weeks, so look out for that.I hope this tied up any wavering questions, but Ana's father's identity will remain a secret. In fact, you can still vote on who you want it to be. Draco Malfoy or Ron Weasley? Well, thanks to my beta, Dracanna Malfoy, for all her help, and to all those who reviewed! Until next time!  
  
***  
  
It was dawn. The sky was dashed with varying shades of orange, purple, and pink. The morning's sun bathed everything in a soft, warm light, and the ocean was, for once, calm and peaceful. Off a small, deserted beach there was a cluster of large, smooth rocks, often used by tourists as a tanning spot. The foamy water lapped up against the rocks quietly.  
  
The peace, however, was only to last for a few moments. Seconds after the sun began to rise a skinny figure burst out of the water, limbs akimbo and wild hair all over its face. The figure beat its way over to the smooth rocks where it dragged itself onto the nearest one. It lay there for quite some time, halfway out of the water, and if there had been any spectators they would have found that this 'it' was actually a young girl.  
  
Not long after the girl pulled her whole body onto the rock she was joined by another figure, equally skinny, but male. She barely acknowledged him, such was her exhaustion. Soon another girl joined the duo, and after that a strange, anxious attentiveness overcame them all.  
  
Tired as they all seemed, they stared intently at the water, as if something-or someone, perhaps-was absent. They had not long to wait for, just as the colors of early morning were beginning to fade, bubbles began to rise to the smooth surface of the water. The first girl sat up rapidly, all fatigue forgotten, and her green eyes were narrowed in concentration.  
  
The second girl spoke then. Her voice carried across the water and to the shore, but there was no one to hear except her companions.  
  
"She made it."  
  
Sure enough, a fourth girl's head appeared a moment later. Like the first girl, when she first surfaced, she flailed wildly in the water. The boy reached out and grabbed her arm, and she became calm then as he pulled her to the rock. The newest girl chose her own rock, though, and she laid on its smooth surface. A dagger was clutched in one hand, and the tip of the blade was bent clear sideways.  
  
And then the girl began to laugh. She lifted her right hand, the hand with the dagger in it, so that she might study the weapon, and then she laughed even harder.  
  
She was alive, and she was free!  
  
***  
  
The four children waited until noon, and then they all swam to shore. They found a nice strip of grass not far from the beach that was shaded by several trees, and there they all fell asleep as one huddled group. When they awoke it was night, but someone had started a fire.  
  
"Sugar," the boy, Adrian, breathed.  
  
"I'm here," a female voice, much too mature to belong to one of the girls, said. A small spite-like figure was silhouetted in the firelight, and Adrian sunk back down into the soft grass when he saw that.  
  
"You knew all along, didn't you, Ana?"  
  
Ana, who had, since waking up, moved herself away from her three friends, nodded. "If I had told you no one would have come along," she murmured. Her tone was apologetic, but no one was fooled into thinking that she was truly sorry for her actions. "Monsieur Frisk gave me the potion. He said it was something he had been tampering with a sort of liquidized gillyweed. He's been trying it out on himself, and it's made to be activated the second water enters your mouth, or something like that. He also gave me this dagger, also, and said I was to jimmy the lock with it."  
  
Ana's cousin, the first girl to immerge from the water, and who had long since recovered from her casket-fright, hunched her shoulders angrily. "And what if they had charmed the lock to stay shut?"  
  
Ana took the dagger out from the cloth she had wrapped around it. She studied the gleaming blade for a moment, and her friends too were impressed by its magnificence. The hilt was made of ivory, and it had been polished until it gleamed in the firelight. Three stones had been set into the ivory- two bright green stones and a deep blue stone in between-and the very tip of the hilt had been dipped into gold so that it formed and small handle. From the ivory hilt protruded a six inch blade of steel. The tip of the dagger was bent clear sideways, and that tiny feature ruined the dagger's splendor.  
  
"He said it's magic like, or something," Ana muttered, trying hard to hide the disappointment in her voice. "He said that it would serve me for this purpose, and others in the future, but only in times of need."  
  
"That sounds familiar," Sugar murmured. No one had noticed her creep up to join their small circle, but now she had perched on the tip of the dagger. Her dark hair had been swept up into a bun, and, for once, she looked very scholarly and sage. "If I didn't know better than I'd say that Monsieur Frisk was a member of the Light."  
  
Amber-Lyn lost it again. "For Merlin's sake! For the past six months you two have been talking about this and that and the other thing! You talk all about this weird sounding stuff, stuff that relates to our parents, but you never tell me anything!"  
  
Liza nodded. "I never heard the end of your parents'-all of our parents'- story."  
  
"And I haven't even begun to hear the beginning." Adrian's arms were crossed over his chest. He had leaned up against a rock, and he looked expectant. What surprised Ana most of all was that they were all looking at her, and not at Sugar.  
  
"You want me to tell it?" Ana asked. She looked at Sugar. "But you tell it so well!"  
  
Sugar smiled softly. She was still balancing on the blade of Ana's dagger. "But it is your mother's story, and someday it will become yours. Who better to tell it than the one who knows it best?" When she saw Ana's worried looked she leapt off the blade. "Tell them, Ana. I'll try and mend the blade while you do so."  
  
Ana finally resigned and moved so that they were sitting around the campfire. For a moment she looked up at the sky and thought back to that September day when this had all began. She wondered if, at that time moment, her mother was staring up at the sky. She wondered countless other things as well, all of them to do with the future and none of them to do with the past or the present. After all, she saw enough of what had all ready been done and what was happening in her dreams. She saw things she could not change, but she would do what she could to create change.  
  
That was a vow she made to herself and to herself alone.  
  
Then, after doing all that, she back looked down at her audience. And smiled. "Everyone ready? Good." She paused once more, and then launched into her mother's tale, the tale that would one day become hers.  
  
"Eleven years ago there was a young woman named Kaitlyn Lowell."  
  
~~*FIN*~~  
  
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us." - Oliver Wendell Holmes  
  
"Hope is a waking dream." -Aristotle 


End file.
